Protecting Earth Rights and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Towards an International Crime of Ecocide

Anthropogenic climate change is one of the grimmest consequences of remorseless exploitation of natural resources to sustain global production and consumption patterns that undermine planetary boundaries. Acknowledging that indigenous peoples are among the vulnerable and dispossessed populations that will be most affected by adverse impacts of climate change, this article seeks to draw attention to the international legal framework which aims to criminalize ecocide, stressing that its promulgation will have important positive consequences for indigenous peoples suffering from the negative effects of climate change and other ecocides. Given that the goals of indigenous climate movements and indigenous environmental movements coincide with what the proposed international law of ecocide strives to achieve, I conclude by suggesting that an alliance between the two movements would be an important step towards the realization of a law of ecocide with an international scope.