Jojo Mehta co-founded Stop Ecocide in 2017, alongside barrister and legal pioneer the late Polly Higgins, to support the establishment of ecocide as a crime at the International Criminal Court. As CEO and key spokesperson, she has overseen the remarkable growth of the movement while coordinating between legal developments, diplomatic traction and public narrative. She is Chair of the charitable Stop Ecocide Foundation and convener of the Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide chaired by Philippe Sands QC and Dior Fall Sow. The resulting definition, launched in June 2021, has catalyzed legislative developments, recommendations and resolutions at national, regional and international levels.
There has been groundbreaking success this year. In September 2024, the Pacific island nations of Vanuatu, Fiji, and Samoa submitted a formal proposal to the International Criminal Court to recognise ecocide as a crime on par with genocide and war crimes. The following month, in October 2024, the Democratic Republic of the Congo endorsed this initiative, becoming the first African nation to do so. At the regional level, the European Union adopted a revised Environmental Crime Directive in March 2024, which includes provisions to criminalise conduct comparable to ecocide. Domestically, in February 2024, Belgium became the first European country to recognise ecocide as an international crime, incorporating it into its penal code. Additionally, ecocide legislation has been proposed or is progressing in Scotland, the Netherlands, Mexico, Peru, Italy, and elsewhere.
Ecocide Law has received attention in: The Washington Post; The Guardian; Business Green; Forbes; BBC News; Paris Match; Canada’s National Observer; New York Times; Vancouver Sun and many others throughout the world.
