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Chapter 8. Ecocide in the European sphere
and can be reached by train in less than 2 hours 30 minutes) would be
abolished. Since 2024, the most polluting vehicles have been restricted
in cities, guadrupling the number of low-emission zones. From the middle
of the decade, no energy-intensive houses will be allowed to be rented,
and from 2040, no heavy goods vehicles using fossil fuels, diesel or petrol
will be allowed on the road.>* The proposal was approved in July 2021
but has attracted significant protest from environmental organisations,
who say the plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by around 40 per cent
from 1990 levels is insufficient. While the French legislation may indeed
be open to criticism in the area of climate action, its criminal law
implications are certainly considered extremely severe in the current
European, indeed global, context.” The Climate and Resilience Bill was
adopted as Law 2021-1104 of 22 August 2021 “on combating climate change
and strengthening resilience to its effects endangering the environment.”
The new legislation included new offences to the French criminal law,
such as a general offence of polluting the environment and the offence
of ecocide for the most serious environmental crimes. Based on the new
regulation, “ifa party is found to have exposed the environment to risk of
sustained degradation of fauna, flora or water by violating an obligation of
safety or a duty of care, the offence is punishable by a prison sentence of up to
three years and a fine of up to €250,000.”*" In Article 231-3, the new law
introduced ecocide as a criminal offence punishable by up to 10 years’
imprisonment. In Article 296 of the Climate and Resilience Bill, ecocide
is also recognised as an international crime: “Within one year of the
promulgation of this law, the Government will submit a report to Parliament
on its efforts to ensure that ecocide is recognised as a crime that can be tried by
international criminal courts?
59 L'Assemblée nationale adopte le projet de loi Climat et résilience 04/05/2021 Avail¬
able at: https://www.gouvernement.fr/l-assemblee-nationale-adopte-le¬
projet-de-loi-climat-et-resilience.
Euronews: France’s new climate law has just been approved. So why are activists so
unimpressed? Available at: https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/07/20/france-s¬
new-climate-law-has-just-been-approved-so-why-are-activists-so-unimpressed.
Brihi, Sélim — Dufourg, Pauline: Environmental criminal law in the French legal
framework. 27 June 2022. Available at: https://www.ibanet.org/environmental¬
criminal-law-in-the-French-legal-framework#_edn2.
Loi no 2021-1104 du 22 août 2021 portant lutte contre le dérèglement climatique et
renforcement de la résilience face à ses effets (1) Article 296: “Dans un délai d'un an à
compter de la promulgation de la présente loi, le Gouvernement remet au Parlement un
rapport sur son action en faveur de la reconnaissance de l'écocide comme un crime pouvant
être jugé par des juridictions pénales internationales”
540
541
542
173