Towards international environmental justice: experts from around the world gather in Geneva to develop guidelines on the documentation and investigation of environmental crimes
On Tuesday, June 17, an international meeting of crucial importance for the future of environmental justice took place in Geneva. At the Foound space, a consultation of experts brought together legal professionals, scientists, human rights defenders, civil society representatives, and international stakeholders to initiate the development of international guidelines dedicated to the documentation and investigation of environmental crimes committed in contexts of war, armed conflict, or systematic repression. The initiative was promoted by Source International in collaboration with TRIAL International, Justice Rapid Response, the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, and Physicians for Human Rights, with the support of the Swedish Postcode Lottery.
The aim of the meeting was to respond to a legal and operational gap that has for too long prevented justice from being served for crimes that, despite having devastating consequences for people, territories, and entire ecosystems, often remain invisible or unpunished. Environmental damage in conflict situations—whether water contamination, deliberate destruction of natural resources, or irreversible soil degradation—is rarely subject to systematic investigation and even more rarely leads to legal proceedings.
Only in recent years has there been greater awareness of global environmental degradation and its effects. In July 2022, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a historic resolution recognizing “the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right.” Furthermore, the war in Ukraine, the situation in Gaza, and the irreversible environmental damage associated with it have helped to shed new light on the issue of international crimes against the environment. More recently, in February 2024, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court launched a public consultation on a new policy initiative aimed at “promoting accountability for environmental crimes under the Rome Statute.”
Despite these developments, the practical application of international environmental law in the criminal sphere remains extremely limited. Exceptions, such as the Hostages of Nuremberg trial, the Al-Bashir case before the International Criminal Court, or the most recent case law of the Colombian Special Jurisdiction, are isolated incidents. What is lacking is a solid and coherent body of case law, but above all, there is a lack of practical, shared, and applicable tools to guide the actions of those who document and report environmental crimes on a daily basis: local activists, human rights lawyers, researchers, journalists, scientists, and representatives of affected communities.
The proposal to develop the Guidelines stems from this awareness and aims to offer concrete support for the collection, preservation, and analysis of evidence of environmental damage in order to strengthen legal action and build credible and solid cases, even in the most complex contexts. During the meeting in Geneva, discussions focused on the specific difficulties that characterize international environmental investigations. These include the technical complexity of the evidence, which requires cross-disciplinary expertise in fields such as geochemistry, public health, satellite analysis, and international criminal law. But they also include the need for tools that enable cooperation between different professionals, capable of working together—in the field or remotely—to identify responsibility, document the extent of the damage, and ensure that communities have access to the truth and, where possible, to redress.
The Guidelines, which will be developed in the coming months through a participatory process, are inspired by international instruments such as the Minnesota Protocol for Investigating Extrajudicial Executions and the Berkeley Protocol for Open Source Investigations. During the day, experts and professionals shared experiences, obstacles, operational needs, and methodological insights.
The event was addressed by UN expert Elisa Morgera, Special Rapporteur on human rights and climate change, lawyer Kevin Jon Heller, special advisor to the International Criminal Court and lecturer at the University of Copenhagen, and Peruvian activist Mireya Mayerli Sosa Navarro of Red Quorum Pasco, who brought the perspective of local communities affected by systematic environmental violence.
Mireya, 22, shared a powerful account of her life in Cerro de Pasco - described by the BBC as one of the most polluted cities in the world, located over 4,300 meters above sea level in the Peruvian Andes. “I come from a city where you breathe struggle and heavy metals” she began. She described the impact of large-scale mining on public health: “Lead has been found in children’s blood at levels 40 times higher than what is considered safe by the World Health Organization”. Mireya recalled the loss of her friend Karol, who died at 17 from heavy metal poisoning after protesting through her art: “I wanted to continue her legacy by becoming an activist in her memory.” Her voice resonated with pain and determination as she added: “We live surrounded by pollution, sickness, and silence. And for many years, no one told us we were in danger.”
She concluded with a call to action, stressing the significance of the initiative: “This guide is not just a technical tool. It is a tool of justice. It gives power to the people. It must speak to people like me - people who are not lawyers, but who fight every day for truth and to protect our communities.”
Their voices emphasized that strengthening criminal responsibility for international environmental crimes is not just a technical or legal issue, but a deeply political and cultural challenge linked to the recognition of the environment as a subject of rights and the urgent need to protect the most vulnerable people from the combined impacts of violence and ecological destruction. The initiative, which will continue in the coming months with further consultations and the collective drafting of the guiding document, aims to affirm an essential principle: crimes against the environment are neither marginal nor inevitable, and must be documented, prosecuted, and punished like any other serious violation of international law.
