# TCUP 2025 Keynote Lecture with Jojo Mehta February 23, 2025 Maria Montague - [ News ](/news-categories/news) The TCUP 2025 Keynote Lecture was delivered by Jojo Mehta, CEO of Stop Ecocide International. Addressing a packed auditorium at Harvard University and virtual participants worldwide, Mehta discussed the mounting efforts to criminalize ecocide and Ukraine’s role as a global leader in this journey. ![Jojo Mehta Delivering Lecture](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/styles/hwp_1_1__960x960_scale/public/2025-02/keynote%20jojo%20audience.jpg?itok=m_WqvfjD) *Photo Credit: Sham Sthankiya*### Ecocide: ‘Killing of the home’ Mehta began by reflecting on the meaning societies assign to nature. The term ecocide itself derives from the Greek "oikos" (home) and the Latin "caedere" (to kill), meaning "killing the home." But how many people truly equate nature with home? Mehta contrasted how people instinctively protect their homes yet largely fail to extend that same care to nature. Mehta argued that Western thought has historically devalued the natural world, embedding a mindset of separation rather than coexistence. “In Platonic thought, the ideal is valued above the real. In Enlightenment thinking, reason is valued above emotion. In modern economic systems, nature is valued only as a resource.” This fundamental disconnect, she said, explains why environmental destruction remains both legally and culturally permissible. Yet, Mehta argued that criminal law has the power to reshape cultural norms. Genocide and slavery were once widely accepted, but the legal reforms that outlawed them served as key turning points, embedding their recognition as crimes not just in law, but in societal consciousness. Mehta noted that while criminal law and cultural change follow separate tracks, they strongly influence each other, with legal recognition playing a pivotal role in shaping cultural perceptions. Criminalizing ecocide, she argued, could not only prosecute and deter environmental crimes but also catalyze a much broader shift in how societies value and protect the natural world. ![Joho Mehta](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/styles/hwp_1_1__960x960_scale/public/2025-02/keynote%20jojo.jpg?itok=HifAfBHQ) *Photo Credit: Sham Sthankiya*### Defining Ecocide and the Legal Path Forward Together with Stop Ecocide International, Mehta has led efforts to establish a clear legal definition of ecocide. In 2021, an independent expert panel, convened by Stop Ecocide, produced the first authoritative legal definition: > *Ecocide means unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe, and either widespread or long-term, damage to the environment being caused by those acts.* This definition has catalyzed international discussions on integrating ecocide into legal frameworks, resulting in significant progress in recent years. In May 2024, the EU adopted an Environmental Crime Directive, marking the first instance of ecocide-like provisions being recognized in EU law. Even more notably, in September 2024, a coalition of nations—Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa, and the Democratic Republic of Congo—formally proposed an amendment to the Rome Statute at the International Criminal Court (ICC), taking a historic step toward establishing ecocide as an internationally prosecutable crime. These efforts, Mehta emphasized, represent one of the fastest-moving international legal advancements in recent history. ![Joho Mehta](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/styles/hwp_1_1__960x960_scale/public/2025-02/keynote%20jojo%20screens.jpg?itok=bafRRYLT) *Photo Credit: Sham Sthankiya*### Ukraine’s Pivotal Role in Recognizing Ecocide While Vanuatu has championed ecocide in the climate context, Mehta highlighted that Ukraine has been at the forefront of advocating for its recognition in the context of war. On June 6, 2023, the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam unleashed catastrophic environmental damage, displacing communities, contaminating water supplies, and devastating ecosystems. President Zelensky immediately denounced the act as ecocide, bringing unprecedented international attention to the concept. Mehta emphasized that Ukraine is the first country to actively investigate and prosecute environmental war crimes while a conflict is still ongoing. Ukraine has pursued 229 cases of environmental war crimes, including 14 ecocide-related investigations under its own penal code. In October 2024, Ukraine ratified the Rome Statute, becoming a full member of the ICC on January 1, 2025. This landmark step strengthens its ability to prosecute war crimes and environmental destruction while positioning Ukraine as a key player in shaping international justice. Although Ukraine will not directly benefit from the potential ecocide amendment to the Rome Statute—since new laws cannot be retroactive—it has remained one of the strongest advocates for its adoption. Mehta commended Ukraine’s commitment to future global justice, calling it an act of deep altruism. She concluded, “We believe that the criminalization of ecocide is likely to become one of the most important and powerful legislative developments of the century, and in significant part, we have Ukraine to thank for that.” WATCH NOW: [TCUP 2025 Keynote Lecture — English](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i33IE8nI9u4&pp=ygUOaHVyaSB0Y3VwIDIwMjU%3D) WATCH NOW: [TCUP 2025 Keynote Lecture — Ukrainian](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mDEQh5eaTs) Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#)