‘THIS IS NOT A TRIAL’ – A fictional case on ecocide

A groundbreaking trial takes place in a fictional future, where ecocide has been incorporated into criminal law. On trial: the Dutch multinational Smit Refineries N.V. and its CEO. They are being sued for the large-scale destruction of an Indonesian ecosystem where nickel and other earth metals are mined. These raw materials are essential for the energy transition – but mining is at the expense of nature and biodiversity, threatening unique (native) species with extinction and driving Indigenous communities off their land. Is this punishable or not?

Headerphoto: Nickel mining in Tompotika, Sulawesi © Stephanie Broekarts / IUCN NL

Ecocide as a criminal offence

This fictitious case is based on the bill relating to Ecocide submitted by the Party for the Animals in late December 2023. This bill aimed to introduce a new standard in criminal law: that the environment has an intrinsic value and that the seriously damaging the environment, through human acts or neglect, should be punishable by law. This bill has not yet been debated in the House of Representatives and is therefore not in force. However, the principle of ecocide is increasingly echoed in regulations such as the European Environmental Crime Directive . This European directive establishes that in certain circumstances, causing or threatening to cause substantial damage to the quality of air, soil or water or to an ecosystem, animals or plants, is a criminal offence.

Energy transition versus Ecocide

The facts underlying this fictitious case are based on nickel mining in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Nickel mining leads to large-scale deforestation and the pollution of water, soil and air. Local people also suffer severely from the effects of nickel mining.

‘Although the energy transition and the earth metals such as nickel needed for it are relevant in relation to reducing CO2 emissions, the same mistakes made in fossil resource extraction must be avoided and more consideration must be given to nature and biodiversity,’ says Antoinette Sprenger, senior expert on environmental justice at IUCN NL.

The question raised in this fictitious case is whether the damage done to nature and biodiversity during nickel mining in Sulawesi qualifies as ecocide as defined in the said bill in certain circumstances.

Partners

This fictional case, THIS IS NOT A TRIAL, was developed by researchers and students from Utrecht University as part of the interdisciplinary project Conceptualising Ecocide in collaboration with IUCN NL, EcoJustice (formerly known as Stop Ecocide NL), a local Indonesian NGO and artists. Students play the roles of prosecutor and lawyer of the defendants, actors play the defendants, and nature also gets a voice through artists.

Performance dates

On 18 and 19 June, the theatre performance took place at the ZIMIHC theatre Stefanus in Utrecht Overvecht, where the audience could also partly participate, as a jury in a fictitious court. Find more information in this link.

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