The lives of Ukrainians have been disrupted by the Russian invasion. Less visible are the environmental consequences through the hand of the Russian army that are added to the already existing threat of global warming for more than 3 months now. Russian weapons harm not only the Ukrainian people and the natural goods of the country but damage the Earth’s ecosystem and climate in a grand manner. The environmental consequences of Russia’s War in Ukraine will be palpable for decades.
According to the Geneva Convention crimes against the environment are categorized as war crimes, as “it is forbidden to use methods or means of warfare that are intended to cause or may be expected to cause widespread, lasting and severe damage to the natural environment.”. The use of those methods can be classified as ecocide.
Those actions which are referred to as ecocides, raise the question of what a legal instrument for climate accountability can look like. Russia must answer for all the crimes committed, including crimes against the environment in front of an international court, which recognises violence against the environment as a crime.
Shown is one of the pink lakes in the Kinburn Spit Reserve in Ukraine.
When the Ukrainian participants, Anna and Olha, showed Katha and me, the German participants, the breathtaking pictures of Ukraine’s landscape I was immediately intrigued and at first, I couldn’t believe that photos of pink lakes were taken in Ukraine. There are a dozen natural pink lakes in the Kherson region, in the South of Ukraine – a territory which is now being destroyed by the Russian military. In the Kinburn Spit Reserve fires have been raging in the forests since mid-April threatening the country’s unique plant world and animals with extinction. Destructions like this can be understood as military ecocide and every day of the war adds new severe crimes to the already long list of deliberate ecocides against Ukraine and the world. We are talking about the poisoning of water, soil, and air along with nuclear threats or shelling of oil depots.
The term ecocide describes the destruction of the environment in general, but the discourse is not just about identifying crimes against nature as such. There are international initiatives and advocates, such as “Stop Ecocide International”, who are pushing for international courts to include ecocide as a fifth crime alongside genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression in the Rome Statute. Ecocide has not yet been defined in international law, but several countries, including Ukraine and also Russia, have criminalized it as a crime within their borders. However, the criminal acts of Russians, in particular the attacks on nuclear facilities, count as a war crime under the Rome Statute, violate the Additional Protocol 1 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and several international humanitarian laws and agreements for example the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism.
Counting the recorded devastating crimes of aggressor Russia it is possible that they set a precedent for the definition and the implementation of ecocide in international law. With the destruction of Ukraine’s ecosystem and the threat to the whole world, the crimes have an international legal dimension and Russia should answer for them.
Since the start of the full-scale war organisations such as National Ecological Center of Ukraine (NECU) Ecoaction, or SaveDnipro are monitoring and documenting cases of potential environmental damage caused by Russia’s aggression with the goal to announce the environmental devastation of the war to the public. The collected cases can then also be used in international courts.
Europe’s baneful dependence on fossil fuel imports from Russia – coal, oil, and gas – and other anti-democratic regimes has been exposed in the last few weeks since February 24. It is a dependency that financed Russia’s war, the propaganda, and the brutal repressive machine within the country. To wean itself of Russian oil and gas Germany has now agreed on a contract with Qatar for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) – a country that is also known for its autocratic regime and was publicly criticized for inadequate women’s rights, homophobia, the support for radical Islamic groups and the exploitation of workers during the construction process of the Football World Cup stadiums. We have to address the links between climate-, energy- and security policies. In the long term short term it is not a smart decision to replace one rogue state with the next one. The fuel phase-out is mandatory to stop fueling conflicts and the climate crisis. The energy policy needs a turnaround to green energy, where renewable energies are expanded and accelerated.
A quote that resonates with me comes from Polly Higgins, a lawyer, and visionary. Her life’s work was to raise awareness about ecocide around the world and criminalize it. We often feel small and powerless, but this quote gives perspective on a world, where moral values take precedence over economic growth. The rules of our world can be changed and they must be changed. Within this project we can start by spreading the word about the crimes that happen in Ukraine. From that we can go on addressing ecocides around the world and their origins.
“The rules of our world are laws, and they can be changed. Laws can restrict or they can enable. What matters is what they serve. Many of the laws in our world serve property – they are based on ownership. But imagine a law that has a higher moral authority… a law that puts people and the planet first. Imagine a law that starts from first do no harm, that stops this dangerous game and takes us to a place of safety….” Polly Higgins, 2015
Written by Nele Koenig.
Translated into Ukrainian by Olha Mordiuk and into German by Nele Koenig.
Used Material:
- “The Kremlin’s “ecocide” is the Putin regime’s crime against Earth”, an article by Pavlo Lodyn from New Eastern Europe (April 2022)
- Stop Ecocide International, a non-profit company supporting the recognization of ecocide as an international crime
- “In the south of Ukraine, the Russian military is destroying the unique Kinburn Spit Reserve”, an article by Ukraine crisis media centre, a non-governmental organization, which promotes the development of a self-sufficient Ukraine state and society and now collects and shares Russian war crimes in Ukraine
- Defuel Russia’s War Machine, an association of several environmental organisation to stop the fuel supply from Russia
In the south of Ukraine, the Russian military is destroying the unique Kinburn Spit Reserve
Оригінал статті – на сайті Українського кризового медіа-центру: https://uacrisis.org/en/na-hersonshhyni-rosijski-vijskovi-znyshhuyut-unikalnu-zapovidnu-kinburnsku-kosu
In the south of Ukraine, the Russian military is destroying the unique Kinburn Spit Reserve
Оригінал статті – на сайті Українського кризового медіа-центру: https://uacrisis.org/en/na-hersonshhyni-rosijski-vijskovi-znyshhuyut-unikalnu-zapovidnu-kinburnsku-kosu
