Genocide–ecocide nexus

Many of the scholars writing about genocide and ecocide use Raphael Lemkin's original definition of genocide. When ecological destruction is responsible for genocide, it occurs in systemic and structural form, often over many decades or centuries, that is not easy to pin on the specific intention of a particular actor. When ecocide leads to genocide, it often looks more like social death than physical extermination. For example, genocide scholar Tony Barta referred to the "remorseless pressures of destruction inherent in the very nature of the society". Insights from settler-colonial studies, critical race theory, and critical Indigenous studies, are also used to explore the genocide–ecocide nexus.

It is argued that processes such as natural resource extraction and techno-capitalist development are behind ecocide and ecocide-related genocides. Ecocide often leads to genocide when it occurs on the edges of capitalist expansion into indigenous economies, preceded by land expropriation that both enables capitalist exploitation of the land in question and severs indigenous people from their previous way of subsistence.

History

The historical precedent for a link between genocide and ecocide can be seen through examinations of the Vietnam War and the US military's use of Agent Orange. Professor Galston, a biologist, made a speech comparing the wilful destruction of people and culture from the Second World War with the destruction of the environment during the Vietnam War. The methods of warfare used in the Vietnam War destroyed the flora with the loss of plant life and soil contamination, the humans in the long run, and the fauna with biodiversity loss. Environmental destruction can take three forms: destruction caused by mass violence, the conduct of mass violence causing destruction, and long-term environmental destruction can be a barrier for peace. Environmental destruction caused by mass violence can correlate directly to the use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. The environment was deliberately attacked with the intent to target a population. During the war, there was a clear willingness to use the dioxin-contaminated agent on the environment of Vietnam, with the intent to destroy the human adversaries. The target was the environment, but such environmental neglect impacts human rights, welfare and can cause more conflict.

Genocide is the willful destruction of people, and ecocide is the willful destruction of the environment, also known as non-human actors. The genocide-ecocide nexus comes through in the connection found between humans and non-human actors, such as the environment. Damage to the human aspect of a conflict is also damage to the environmental aspect. Something that is not often discussed, despite humans depending on their environment and nature for life and cultural development. A social group, which can be destroyed through the act of genocide, is not simply a collection of individuals, but rather a complex set of relationships that interconnect. Lemkin’s definition of genocide and the removal of culture from the definition of genocide left the concept misunderstood by scholars and the law. Early discussions of ecocide came about through a necessity of wartime disasters; the term ecocide was, in the early years of its conception, only associated with wartime situations that caused harm to the environment. The correlation between genocide and ecocide comes through the form of culture, and the cultural connections to the land that people hold. Those cultural connections to the land, if destroyed, can have genocidal impacts.

The genocide-ecocide nexus is further analyzed through the lens of capitalism, the modern institutions that govern the world and Marxist ecology, which summarizes that capitalism is blind as it divides nature and is unable to see the drivers of ecological destruction and climate change. The modern institutions of the global world can be a perspective used to explain the modern genocide and ongoing ecological destruction. Ecocide has yet to be formally recognized as an international crime, with discussions taking place in 2025 for approaches to accountability regarding the environment. Various movements exist to bring awareness to ecocide, such as The Eradicating Ecocide campaign started by lawyer and environmentalist Polly Higgins. The campaign is working with organizations such as Stop Ecocide International as part of a joint project to raise awareness of ecocide, human impacts on the environment, and up-to-date news. Stop Ecocide International focuses on recognizing long-term environmental harm as an international crime through expert advice on ecocide law.