How can major polluters be prosecuted under international criminal law?

04 September 2026 Research news item

Environmental pollution is rife, and the severity of the damage it causes has become increasingly clear over recent decades. Sophie van Dongen researches what is needed to ensure that those who commit environmental crimes can indeed be prosecuted on the basis of international criminal law.

Deforestation in the Amazon, mining in the Congo or, closer to home, the disease-causing substances that companies such as Chemours and Tata Steel pump into the air every day: it is well known that there are parties worldwide, from companies to state actors, that are damaging the environment. But although they are thereby threatening the health of all living things, international criminal prosecution remains, for the time being, possible only in theory. Why is this not possible, and what steps can be taken to make it possible in the future?

‘At present, there are four types of international crimes set out in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,’ explains Sophie van Dongen, a PhD candidate in the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology at Radboud University. ‘These are genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. Environmental offences are not yet included, and that makes it very difficult to prosecute internationally.’

Deforestation in the Amazon

To ensure that people can be prosecuted in future, there are broadly two routes. ‘Firstly, there are initiatives to add ecocide – the deliberate destruction of ecosystems – as a fifth international crime.’ The main challenge here is that the other four crimes focus on humans, and it is unclear how ecocide could be enforced.

That is why scientists, including Van Dongen, are exploring another route: namely, what is possible within the current four international crimes to make environmental offences punishable. ‘Take deforestation in the Amazon, which has major consequences for the indigenous people living there. There, you can establish a link between damage to the environment and the impact on people.’

For the time being, that link is mainly established in the literature. ‘Authors demonstrate that the environment has been used to cause harm to people. The insights from the literature help non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to draw attention to issues, such as the damage to the Amazon caused by Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, but this has not yet led to a case being brought before an international criminal court.’

Advice to the International Criminal Court

Nevertheless, a great deal is happening behind the scenes at international criminal courts. ‘In 2016, the International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC) stated for the first time that it would take serious environmental damage into account when assessing crimes. And in a new policy initiative at the end of 2024, the ICC called on NGOs and scientists to describe as clearly as possible how the court could proceed with prosecuting parties that cause damage to the environment.’

Van Dongen emphasises that when the ICC or another criminal court issues a ruling, this does not automatically mean that a party will actually be punished. ‘Certainly in recent years, we have seen major countries such as the United States opposing the International Criminal Court, for example following the arrest warrant issued against Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu. Legally speaking, it is possible to prosecute someone before the ICC, but for political reasons – such as a country’s refusal to extradite someone – this does not happen very often.’

Knowingly causing pollution

Nevertheless, such rulings would carry great symbolic value and represent an important step towards actually being able to prosecute major international polluters in the future. ‘The court would thereby signal that certain acts are serious enough to warrant international prosecution. This could contribute to the development of new rules and judicial rulings at national level. Conversely, national rulings can in turn inspire international case law, creating an ever-stronger basis for actually prosecuting environmental polluters.’

It is difficult to say when the first polluters will face criminal prosecution. But if it were up to Van Dongen, that day would come sooner rather than later. ‘There are so many European and American companies that have been operating in Latin America, Africa or Asia for decades, with terrible consequences for both the environment and the local population, such as birth defects and an increased risk of cancer. When you’ve been doing this for decades, knowing full well what the consequences are and continuing to do so regardless, you should be punished for it.’

Photo: Daniel Moqvist via Unsplash

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Organizational unit: Faculty of Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
Theme: Sustainability, International, Law