Ecocide is the extensive destruction or loss of ecosystem (s) of a specific territory , usually deliberate and massive, either by human means or other causes. As a consequence, the existence of the inhabitants of that territory is severely threatened.
Ecocide was about to be included as the fifth Crime Against Peace within the Rome Statute . It was scrutinized within the UN for decades but finally barred in 1996 despite objection from many countries. The "Ecocide Project" at the University of London (UK) is investigating this matter. For its part, the organization "Let's End Ecocide in Europe" is trying to gather a million signatures to get the European Commission in Brussels to criminalize this form of damage to the environment. If it reaches one million signatures before January 21, 2014, the European Commission would initiate a bill to criminalize offenses against the environment in the territory of the EU.
