'Ecocide' crime came into force in Belgium
Under Belgium's new criminal law, actions that cause serious harm to the environment will be punished with imprisonment and high fines.
Quick Look
- The 'ecocide' law, which defines serious, widespread and long-term damage to the environment, has come into force in Belgium.
- The regulation, adopted in 2024, foresees imprisonment of up to 20 years and fines of up to 1.6 million euros for intentional environmental crimes.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The Belgian House of Representatives adopted a new criminal law in 2024 that aggravates environmental crimes.
A regulation criminalizing serious, widespread and long-term damage to the environment as "ecocide" has come into force in Belgium. The new criminal law, adopted by the Belgian House of Representatives in 2024, began to be implemented as of September.
In the new law, ecocide is defined as "the deliberate execution of an illegal act that causes serious, widespread and long-term damage to the environment through action or omission, knowing that it causes the damage in question." Within the scope of the regulation, situations such as major oil spills, large-scale pollution of the seas and nuclear waste causing severe damage to the environment can be considered as ecocide crimes.
Natural persons who commit the crime of ecocide may be sentenced to imprisonment from 15 to 20 years, and legal entities may be sentenced to a fine of 1.2 million to 1.6 million euros. In order for an act to be considered ecocide, the damage must be serious, large-scale and long-lasting, the act must be intentional and the perpetrator must know the damage he has caused.
Open Questions
- Which institutions will follow ecocide cases?
- How will international companies be affected by this law?
