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Chapter 1. Foundation relates to the work of Polly Higgins", who "resuscizated" ecocide and proposed a newly formed definition to be included in the Statute of the International Criminal Court. In her primary work on ecocide entitled “Eradicating Ecocide” Higgins explored the history of environmental destruction and provided new answers on how to regulate ecologically damaging activities and determining which liability regimes are applicable to the matter. Her words articulate this unique approach towards ecocide: “I am someone who cares deeply about the Earth. I'm also a lawyer who loves the Earth. It’s not often lawyers talk about love — and it can feel strange to do so. However, I believe love and law can be brought together and when the two meet, the potential to create new laws that put people and planet first is born. The history of ecocide is inseparable from the protection of the environment in armed conflicts. Earlier, the Vietnam War Effort and the Gulf War were striking examples of ecological destruction. More recently, the RussoUkrainian armed conflict has raised attention on the topic. As a result of the ongoing war, the natural environment has already suffered tremendous irreversible harm. As I will discuss later on, environmental destruction as a method of warfare is ‘nothing new under the sun’. Systematic destruction or pollution of the natural environment was used to break the power of the enemy in ancient times. Defenders often denied attackers’ basic necessities, or attackers induced defenders to surrender. It is a well-known fact that military techniques harm the agricultural and wildlands and are increasingly capable of disrupting natural habitats. As Fa/k highlighted: „environmental warfare is a dramatic reminder of the extent to which the planet as a whole must mobilise a response to the ecological challenge to sustain life on earth and beat back reversions to barbarism emanating from the “advanced” regions and applied to those that are relatively backward.” Biennial Conference organised by the Faculty of Law of the West University of Timisoara in 2020. 31 Pauline Hélène “Polly” Higgins (4 July 1968 — 21 April 2019). Pauline Hélène “Polly” Higgins: Eradicating Ecocide 2nd edition: Laws and Governance to Stop the Destruction of the Planet. Shepheard-Walwyn, 2016. 3” Higgins, Polly: Syntropic, Season #1, Episode #11 — Polly Higgins -The Earth needs a good lawyer 7 November 2014. Available at: https://syntropic.world/season-1-episode11-polly-higgins-earth-needs-good-lawyer/. 34 Falk, Richard A.: Environmental Warfare and Ecocide — Facts, Appraisal, and Proposals. Bulletin of Peace Proposals, Vol. 4. No. 1. 1973, p. 80. 25
