New challenges and issues for climate protection in European Criminal Law

Abstract

Climate protection through criminal law is the subject of growing international discussion. The Commission’s 2021 proposal on environmental criminal law and the Council of Europe’s 2023 draft Convention on environmental criminal law contain provisions on climate protection. In addition, new EU Regulations and Directives related to climate protection have been proposed and adopted in recent years. Although the role of environmental criminal law has been limited in the past, the role of environmental criminal law in European criminal law has been receiving increased attention in recent years in response to climate change and the discussion on the introduction of the crime of ecocide into the Rome Statute. This article identifies how the Commission’s proposal and the draft Convention will contribute to climate protection. It then identifies issues with these provisions and areas for future improvement for climate protection.