People in Flint, Michigan, suffered—and some are still suffering—from water contamination in their municipal water supply.

Yet no public officials have ever been held criminally responsible for the Flint water crisis.

Shouldn’t causing devastation that hurts so much be considered a crime?

Many will say “yes” and claim the crime is “ecocide,” otherwise known as mass destruction to the environment.

Stop Ecocide is a movement gaining popularity that aims to make ecocide an international crime.

This sounds like it could be a good thing to hold corporations accountable for harming ecosystems and people.

But as the saying goes, “No good deed goes unpunished.”

Why You Need to Understand Ecocide ASAP

If you haven’t already heard the term “ecocide” in the news, get ready. It’s coming.

This is because there is a big push to criminalize ecocide internationally. Currently, there are four crimes that can be tried by the International Criminal Court:

• Genocide
• War crimes
• Crimes against humanity
• Crimes of aggression

The Stop Ecocide movement is calling for ecocide to be added to this list.

According to the “expert panel” at the World Economic Forum, ecocide is defined as “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.”

If you’re thinking that it doesn’t sound quite so bad, keep reading.

During the Davos panel, the co-founder of Stop Ecocide International shared her thoughts:

With human rights, mass murder and genocide are serious crimes, but there is no equivalent in the environmental space. […] Unlike an international crime like genocide that involves a specific intent, with ecocide, what we see is actually what people are trying to do, what business are trying to do, is make money, is farm, is fish… and what’s missing is the awareness and the conscience around the side effects and collateral damage that happens with that.

To repeat, the co-founder of this mass movement considers farming and fishing a crime equal to genocide.

View her whole statement here.

What else constitutes ecocide crimes beyond chemical pollution? Here are a few examples that stand out on the Stop Ecocide website:

• Overfishing
• Industrial livestock farming: “Cattle ranching for beef production is the single biggest reason for Amazon deforestation.”
• Growing soy for animal feed
• Land and water contamination from agricultural pollution
• Air pollution from agricultural industries

If this definition were internationally accepted, here are some of the things that could be linked to ecocide:

Air Pollution: The World Health Organization (WHO) claims that around seven million premature deaths annually are linked to air pollution.

Climate Change: A study published in "Nature Climate Change" (2021) suggests that more than a third of heat-related deaths in many parts of the world can be attributed to climate change.

Water Pollution: Unsafe water sources and sanitation lead to diseases that cause hundreds of thousands of deaths each year, particularly among children in developing countries. This will likely be roped into the ecocide death numbers.

Deforestation and Land Degradation: These processes can contribute to malnutrition and food insecurity, affecting health and mortality.

American Farms Are in Danger

And the scariest part? 

This push toward creating a new criminal category puts the agricultural sector right in the crosshairs, potentially transforming how American farms operate and affecting our daily food supply chain.

We hate having to repeat ourselves, but American farms are in danger!

It is critical to understand that the legal definition of ecocide was not developed until 2021.

While the term “ecocide” has been thrown around since the 1970s, the criminality definition is new.

If they can create new laws, it means they can modify and change laws, too.

Who’s to say that some years down the road, they won’t modify ecocide laws to be more focused on the individual and not the corporation?

It’s happened before.

Ecocide Is a Slippery Slope 

Ecocide is currently considered a crime in 11 countries, but is being considered in more than 25 other countries.

This year, there have already been several hearings for bills to incorporate ecocide as a crime in many countries around the world.

In these countries, the crimes are punishable by imprisonment. 

What happens when it goes from imprisoning the greedy bosses of big corporations polluting the water—and the likelihood they’ll actually be charged and convicted—to charging the little people?

We’ve all heard stories about police officers having to shut down a child’s lemonade stand because “the child was operating without a vendor’s permit.”

These situations are perfect examples of how something starts as a good idea, but eventually becomes a means of control.

During the pandemic, one governor went so far as to prevent her citizens from purchasing seeds to garden because of how she interpreted an executive order!

We can easily see this same thing happening with ecocide laws and regulations. What was meant for good can become a means to control what and how we eat.

[Related Read: Protect Your Seeds. Lawmakers Are Coming for Them.]

Today’s Regulations Become Tomorrow’s Ecocide Crimes

There was a time when hunting and fishing in the United States was unregulated, but beginning in the 19th century, concerns of habitat destruction and overhunting paved the way for today’s hunting and fishing legislation.

Depending on where you live, you may have to have a license to hunt. And even then, you may only be legally able to hunt in certain seasons.

Should you get caught by a warden hunting or fishing in an off-season, with the wrong gear, or without a license, you can be fined.

It happens all the time. Google “arresting for hunting” or “fined for fishing” and see what comes up. You’ll be shocked.

They are claiming ecocide is mass scale at this point, but then again, the co-founder of the movement specifically mentioned hunting and fishing in her speech at the WEF Annual Meeting.

In case you aren’t aware, the WEF is trying very hard to sell us on the idea of eating synthetic meat and bugs.

So, it doesn’t seem like it would be too big of a stretch to go from crimes against mass-scale destruction to individuals hunting and fishing.

But that’s not all.

I’ve lost track of all the regulations farmers are dealing with to protect the environment.

So much so that it’s putting many farms out of business—they can’t afford the fancy materials needed to have an eco-friendly farm.

In the Netherlands, the government went as far as to seize farms in the name of lessening nitrogen emissions.

My point is, the government already regulates how we acquire food in the natural world. Ecocide laws may soon make it easier to criminalize it.

How to Prepare for Ecocide Criminality

Now that you are aware of the ecocide legislation that is coming, stay up to date. Follow trustworthy sources. Know and buy from your local farmers.

Start farming yourself. If you don’t have the ability to have a hobby farm with chickens, grow a garden. Any type of garden. Don’t let them take your freedom to grow away from you. 

Stock up on heirloom seeds and emergency foods, such as meat and protein, that they may make illegal. 

Don’t ignore what is happening, friends.

In liberty,

Elizabeth Anderson

Preparedness Advisor, My Patriot Supply