Published on 17 March 2026 in Client Alerts

ICC Issues Policy on Environmental Damage under the Rome Statute

In December 2025, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court released its Policy on Addressing Environmental Damage Through the Rome Statute.  This document marks an important development in the treatment of environmental harm within international criminal law.

The policy clarifies that environmental damage may constitute, contribute to, or provide evidence of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression, even if there is no standalone crime of “ecocide”.  The policy purports to adopt a scientific understanding of environmental harm.  It also explains that environmental harm is capable of producing systemic humanitarian consequences.

The policy seeks to address longstanding ambiguity surrounding the role of environmental damage in atrocity prosecutions by integrating environmental considerations into charging decisions, gravity assessments and evidentiary analysis.  It signals greater reliance on interdisciplinary and scientific evidence in investigations of conflict-related harm.

Notably, the policy does not expand the ICC’s jurisdiction.

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