IS SHANE JONES AN ECO-TERRORIST?

The Pacific nations of Vanuatu, Fiji, and Samoa are calling for ecocide to be recognized as an international crime, on a par with war crimes and genocide, prosecutable by the International Criminal Court.


THE PACIFIC NATIONS OF Vanuatu, Fiji, and Samoa are campaigning to have ecocide listed as a crime against humanity. They have formally requested that the International Criminal Court (ICC) add ecocide alongside genocide to the international community’s list of most serious crimes. Ecocide can be defined as the 'destruction of the natural environment by deliberate or negligent human action.'

The charge of ecocide recognises that further economic expansion in the pursuit of ever more profit can only accelerate the planet's descent into a nightmarish barbarism. This is not being melodramatic. A recent report has found that the temperature of Earth’s surface and oceans has hit an all-time high, driven by record burning of fossil fuels. For governments to continue on our present disastrous path can only be deemed to be deliberately negligent. And criminal.

In November 2018 150 New Zealand academics and scientists issued an open letter to the Labour-led Government protesting that it was failing to adequately tackle climate change even though we were faced with a 'deepening ecological crisis'.  The signatories commented:

'Infinite economic growth on a planet with finite resources is not viable. And yet successive governments have promoted free-market principles which demand rampant consumerism and endless economic growth, thus allowing greenhouse gas emissions to rise. If we continue on our current path, the future for our species is disastrous.'

The Labour Government, with the market-friendly Green Party co-leader James Shaw as its Climate Change Minister, failed to respond to that letter. Some five years later, the situation has only worsened.

The National-led coalition, acting on behalf of capital, has made it clear that economic expansion and the pursuit of profit override all environmental considerations. When confronted with opposition to the Government's plans, the Minister of Regional Development, Shane Jones, resorts to vitriol and personal abuse. More often than not, he declares that warnings about the impact of climate change is mere 'catastrophism' promoted by 'greenies'.

But New Zealand environmental scientists, a lot saner than Shane Jones, have noted that 'The fast-tracking agenda threatens to undermine New Zealand’s progress on biodiversity protection and other key environmental issues. It erodes rather than sustains the natural capital on which the economy depends.'

NZ Herald journalist Simon Wilson has estimated that more than half the proposed 149 fast track projects will increase the country's carbon emissions.

Pacific nations like Fiji and Samoa can only view with alarm what is occurring in New Zealand, since they are confronted with some of the most severe consequences of climate change. Perhaps if politicians like Chris Luxon, Chris Bishop and Shane Jones were liable to be prosecuted for environmental crimes, that might help serve as a deterrent to those seeking to further plunder the planet at our expense.

However, we are still some years away from the ICC recognising ecocide as a crime and vested interests will continue to oppose its adoption. So, the fight against climate change must continue and with haste. That means climate strikes, direct action and voting for politicians pushing for a Green New Deal. And fighting for our lives against capitalism.