The World Council of Churches (WCC) sent a submission to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on December 14, 2023, arguing that the Rome Statute should be expanded to criminalise “widespread and systematic instigation, direction, facilitation, incitement, or encouragement of the burning of fossil fuels or the dissemination of ideas based on demonstrably inaccurate scientific analysis” as a crime against humanity.
The WCC represents over 580 million Christians across the world. The fellowship of churches collaborates “for unity, justice, and peace”. The WCC is embarking on an ambitious inter-generational climate justice campaign, with as its main goal the protection of children’s lives and their physical, emotional, and cognitive well-being.
The WCC’s Submission
The focus of the WCC’s submission is on the “impunity” of fossil fuel companies, which the WCC claims persistently and deliberately spread misinformation on the climate crisis. As the submission notes, “limitations in the current international criminal framework contribute to the problem of impunity for such deliberate acts”.
Rightfully, the WCC maintains that past and current climate litigation has attempted to hold fossil fuel companies accountable on the national level. However, limitations in international legal frameworks prevent plaintiffs from addressing climate change, an inherently global issue, on a worldwide level.
As an example, the WCC cited the comments made by COP28 President, Sultan Al-Jaber, who publicly claimed that there is “no science” proving that phasing out of fossil fuels is needed to curb global warming to below a certain threshold.
The misinformation campaign of fossil fuel companies ranges from the proposal of false climate solutions, to greenwashing, to outright manipulation of democracies through their financial and lobbying influence.
As per the WCC’s claims, if there is no urgent intervention in this misinformation campaign, “lobbyists are likely to continue to undermine political will for the necessary action, emissions are likely to continue to increase, and the effects of climate change are likely to accelerate with catastrophic effects for people and planet”.
President of the ICC Assembly of State Parties, Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi, replied to the WCC’s submission with appreciation. She also noted that it has been 25 years since the adoption of the Rome Statute, making this year an excellent opportunity to include “amendments through its legal framework and the adoption of new crimes”, whereby the WCC’s submission would inform this discussion.
The ICC, Crimes Against Humanity, and Climate Change
In its submission, the WCC suggests that the Rome Statute’s definition of what constitutes a ‘crime against humanity’ should be expanded in light of the actions of fossil fuel companies and other organisations and governments in perpetuating the climate crisis.
The Rome Statute is an international treaty that founded the ICC. The Rome Statute grants the ICC the power to prosecute individuals for ‘crimes against humanity’ among other atrocities.
Under Rome Statute’s Article 7, there are 15 forms of crimes against humanity, which include murder, rape, (sexual) enslavement, torture, and apartheid. What these crimes have in common to qualify as a ‘crime against humanity’, is that the act must be committed “as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack”.
Key terms here are ‘widespread or systematic’, ‘against any civilian population’, and ‘knowledge’.
Article 30(3) of the Rome Statute defines ‘knowledge’ as “awareness that a circumstance exists, or a consequence will occur in the ordinary course of events”.
Article 7(1)(k) allows for a more general interpretation of ‘crimes against humanity’, by including “other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.” However, Article 7(1)(k) comes with its own set of additional legal requirements, including the following:
“1. The perpetrator inflicted great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health, by means of an inhumane act.
2. Such act was of a character similar to any other act referred to in article 7, paragraph 1 of the Statute.
3. The perpetrator was aware of the factual circumstances that established the character of the act.
4. The conduct was committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population.
5. The perpetrator knew that the conduct was part of or intended the conduct to be part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population.”
Environmental Harm as an International Crime
The inclusion of deliberate harm to the environment as a crime against humanity has been explored for years. A recent submission by the New Zealand Students for Climate Solutions and UK Youth Climate Coalition against the senior executive of BP also argued that contributing to climate change should qualify as a crime against humanity by senior BP executives.
Another case currently pending before the ICC is The Planet v. Bolsonaro, filed by the non-governmental organisation All Rise. It concerns an investigation into former Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro for his role in the ongoing deforestation of the Amazon rainforest as a crime against humanity.
The WCC’s submission also fits into the wider call for ‘ecocide’ to be included as a fifth international crime under the Rome Statute (instead of expanding the interpretation of crime against humanity). Read more about the Stop Ecocide movement here.
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