Securing the Environment in War and Peace: Ecocide and the Future of Environmental Peacebuilding

Ievgeniia Kopytsia, Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University (Ukraine)

This presentation is based on a joint research paper examining how the emerging international crime of ecocide can contribute to securing the environment in contexts of war and post-conflict peacebuilding. It argues that ecocide should be understood not only as a mechanism of post-conflict accountability, but also as a forward-looking tool for environmental security and environmental peacebuilding. Situating ecocide within key debates in environmental peacebuilding scholarship, the analysis draws on a structured literature review and supporting bibliometric mapping of dominant thematic clusters, including governance, security, and sustainability. Using Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine as an illustrative case, the paper analyses how recognition of ecocide may reinforce accountability for wartime ecological destruction and contribute to green and resilient post-war recovery. It develops the concept of an Ecocide Deterrence Tool Chest, structured around prevention, accountability, ecological restoration, and education, positioning the criminalisation of ecocide as a mechanism for advancing environmental security and durable peace beyond the immediate post-conflict context. Co-presenter: Rinata Kazak, Lecturer, Department of Thematic Studies – Environmental Change, Centre for Climate Science and Policy Research, Linköping University, Sweden