Mauritius has become the latest country to introduce a domestic crime of ecocide.
Classified by the United Nations as a Small Island Developing State, it faces significant environmental risks, including sea level rise and pressure on marine ecosystems that underpin key sectors of its economy such as tourism and fisheries.
The provision, set out in an anti-money laundering and financial crimes law, defines ecocide as “an unlawful or wanton act committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term environmental damage” – language that closely reflects the definition proposed by the Independent Expert Panel convened by the Stop Ecocide Foundation in 2021.