Canadians can participate directly in the initiative to establish an International Criminal Court for the Environment:

[translated from French]

Charter of Brussels

For the creation of a European Criminal Court and an International Criminal Court of the Environment and Health

Considering the inalienable human right to a healthy environment and the risk of irreversibility the level reached by the loss of biodiversity.

The initiators parts:

Recall and emphasize the principles and content of all international resolutions and international declarations since the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on Environment, adopted at Stockholm June 16, 1972;

Recognize that the issues transcend borders and must be treated supranational;

Argue that the issue of excessive use of resources is that of damage or destruction of ecosystems whose operation allows the maintenance and development of life, as evidenced by the disappearance of many plant and animal species that human health is endangered by the use of toxic products and especially endocrine disruptors and carcinogens, mutagens and reproductive toxins;

Observed that various initiatives aimed at providing a constitutional preservation of living (such as, for example, the new Constitutional Charter of Ecuador, the Conferencia Mundial de los Pueblos sobre el Cambio y los Derechos Climático de la Madre Tierra - Cochabamba, the Environmental Charter in France);

Emphasize the extreme urgency to act;

Fall within such a perspective requires the study and evaluation of historical, anthropological and cultural, scientific, health, economic and political;

Therefore consider that these data must have legal translation to allow the preservation of the environment with effective, proportionate and dissuasive, in effect, some choices and decisions, made knowingly, result in dramatic consequences short and long-term resources, nature and humans it is therefore important to recognize effective access to justice;

Note that today there are many initiatives and shape of various types carried by themselves and other organizations that would join and they serve a similar purpose with different but complementary methods and likely to implement more or less rapidly, it is necessary to find solutions and the most appropriate tools to act together and allow the immediate implementation of what can be and to coordinate efforts to achieve the best possible outcome for each initiative.

As a result, they decided to meet to discuss the following

1. Immediately, all existing or planned initiatives for civil society to seize and judge at least morally responsible for the crimes and environmental crimes endangering the planet’s resources and human health will be supported by all signatory organizations, it is particularly true of the International Court of awareness of crimes against nature and the environment, and the Tribunal of Peoples;
2. A second historical point could be reached by the creation of a European CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH; Following the hearing, July 10, 2010, by the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee European, Professor Abrami, vice-president of the International Academy of Environmental Sciences, the Political Department “Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Case” DG Internal Policies of the EU Parliament issued on comments1 this proposal that “the creation of a specialized chamber within the Court of Justice of the EU, or a specialized court attached to the court with jurisdiction over environmental issues, would be a realistic goal means terme.2 “; AME-DIE supported this initiative could result in a change in the status of the ECJ, the recognition of the need for criminal sanctions for environmental offenses (Directive 2008/99/EC) and the creation of a criminal prosecutor Europe could be considered a first step in this direction, strengthening sanctions and recognition of ecocide crime, requested by the citizen movement End Ecocide in Europe, are also part of this process;
3. AN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT OF ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH is the ultimate goal. To achieve this, a revision of the statutes of the International Criminal Court (121,122 and 123 s) is possible by introducing environmental catastrophe as one of the offenses of crimes against humanity to prosecute officials who acted intentionally. This crime environmental disaster would provide effective international protection of ecosystems, in the spirit of precedents civil in nature from the International Court of Justice (Case Trail, conflict Corfu Channel) which results in a rule of international law customary that “no State has the right to use or permit that uses its own territory so as to cause damage,” reaffirmed the principle n.21 of the Stockholm Declaration of 1972 and in the n.2 principle of Rio de Janeiro from 1992;

The parties also follow with interest and some also support the creation of a new crime said of “ecocide” as a fifth crime against peace.

Accordingly, the parties initiating:

1. Invite other organizations to support the request to create a European Criminal Tribunal for the Environment and Health on the basis of principles developed by the EU effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions;
2. Invite interested organizations and beyond global civil society to support the request for the creation of an International Criminal Court of the Environment and Health in developing the current competence of the International Criminal Court (ICC) through procedures provided for in the Treaty (revision and amendments) and including such new specific crime, environmental catastrophe;
3. Therefore, request the Secretary General of the UN to take any useful initiative to
   • Identify different environmental emergencies Planet Earth with particular attention to the protection of health and the scientific and technological issues has erent well as all cultural and anthropological aspects?;
   • Develop actions necessary for the creation of the International Criminal Court of the Environment and Health and the effective enforcement of environmental offenses causing harm to people as ecosystems;
4. Invite interested organizations and civil society to support an initiative to recognize the United Nations, and the United States the polluter pays principle as a legal principle of universal value and punishable, repairing the environmental damage, introduce effective legal protection and judicial resources in a spirit of effective multilateralism and solidarity;
5. In any case decide to organize a joint platform to pursue this goal and clear.

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RESOURCES for Activists

WildLeaks — A WikiLeaks style online whistleblower platform dedicated to Wildlife & Forest Crime. The Mission of WildLeaks is to receive and evaluat e anonymous information regarding Wildlife & Forest Crimes and transform it into actionable items.

Global Forest Watch (GFW) — A dynamic online forest monitoring and alert system that empowers people everywhere to better manage forests… uniting satellite technology, open data, and crowdsourcing to try and help governments, businesses and communities halt forest loss.