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World-Leading Ecocide Law introduced in Scotland
Scotland is poised to become the first UK nation to criminalise ecocide - severe and reckless harm to nature - under a new Member’s Bill published in Holyrood today.
The Ecocide (Scotland) Bill, introduced by MSP Monica Lennon, would make it a criminal offence to cause widespread, long-term or irreversible environmental damage, with potential penalties including up to 20 years in prison for individuals and unlimited fines for companies.
Professor Damien Short, from the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, and a key member of Monica Lennon’s Expert Advisory Group, had this to say:
This Bill underscores the rising international awareness that intentional, or indeed reckless, serious harm to nature and ecosystems should be treated with the same gravity as other major crimes. With this new Bill, Scotland is playing a crucial role in the advancement of environmental law by helping to shape a new legal framework, which introduces legal accountability for large-scale ecological destruction. The Bill not only seeks to deter and penalise the most severe environmental offences, but will also help safeguard essential human rights that are threatened by serious ecological destruction.
The Bill will now be considered by the Scottish Parliament, with committee scrutiny and evidence gathering expected to begin before the summer recess. A full parliamentary vote could take place in 2025, ahead of the next Scottish election in May 2026 — the latest point by which legislation must be passed before the current parliamentary session ends.
Supporters say the Bill fills a critical legal gap and aligns Scotland with the emerging international consensus that some environmental harms are so serious, they must be treated as crimes — not just regulatory failures.
Professor Short concluded:
It was a pleasure to assist in drafting this Bill, and to work with national and international experts and key stakeholders to get us this far. Let’s hope that all the hard work pays off and the Bill is passed this year. Our environment certainly needs it.
Background
This groundbreaking move positions Scotland at the forefront of growing international efforts to use criminal law to deter mass environmental destruction. In September 2024, Vanuatu, Samoa, and Fiji formally proposed an amendment to the Rome Statute to include ecocide as an international crime - a proposal now backed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the regional level, the European Union, also last year, adopted a revised Environmental Crime Directive that includes “conduct comparable to ecocide”, requiring member states to transpose these provisions into national law by May 2026. Earlier this month, the Council of Europe adopted a landmark treaty, the Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law, which enables states to prosecute conduct resulting in environmental disasters “tantamount to ecocide”.
Public support is also strong: a 2024 Global Commons Survey found that 72% of people across 18 G20 countries believe it should be a criminal offence for leaders to permit or cause serious environmental harm. To date, twelve countries - including Belgium, France, and Ukraine - have adopted ecocide or equivalent offences into domestic law, while at least nine others, such as Brazil, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, and Italy, are joining Scotland in advancing domestic legislation.
Key Features of the Bill
- Creates the crime of ecocide: defined as causing severe environmental harm either intentionally or through recklessness — where the harm is widespread, long-term or irreversible.
- Up to 20 years imprisonment: for individuals found guilty, with provisions for publicity orders, remediation costs, and unlimited fines for corporate offenders.
- Corporate accountability: senior executives can be held personally liable when offences involve their consent, connivance or neglect.
In support of the Bill, an open letter to members of the Scottish Parliament has been published, signed by over 100 prominent figures from around the world. Among the environmental advocates backing the Bill are Jonathon Porritt CBE, Dale Vince OBE, George Monbiot, Princess Esméralda of Belgium, Ian Redmond OBE, and Isabella Tree. Signatories include several King’s Counsels — notably renowned human rights barristers Michael Mansfield KC and Philippe Sands KC — as well as parliamentarians from Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, North America, and the Pacific Islands, including Vanuatu. Business leaders such as Paul Polman (formerly Unilever), Charlotte O’Leary (Pensions for Purpose), and Tessa Clarke (OLIO) are also among the supporters.
Scottish backers includes major public health charity Asthma + Lung UK Scotland, UNISON Scotland, Quakers in Scotland, RSPB Scotland, the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Friends of the Earth Scotland, environmental scientist and youth campaigner Laura Young, Royal Scottish Geographical Society’s Mike Robinson, the Reverend David J.M. Coleman (Eco-Congregation Scotland) — highlighting the Bill’s broad and cross-sector appeal.
For media queries contact Professor Damien Short: [email protected].
This page was last updated on 29 May 2025
