Not with a Bang, but with a Whisper Utilizing a Restorative Justice Framework to Address Issues of Ecocide and Environmental Harm

Human activity, such as industrialization and deforestation, have led to an increase in global temperatures and natural disaster events that have resulted in the death of over two million people and an economic loss of over USD $3.64 trillion in the last 50 years. Governments, organizations, and activists across the globe have tried to reduce the collateral consequences of human activity on the planet; however, even with increased attention to these issues, there has yet to be much discussion of accountability for planetary harm. Greenhouse gas emissions, waste dumping, and climate change mostly result from individuals, corporations, and governments exploiting the planet of its natural resources freely, without direct and immediate consequence. In the field of criminal justice, the criminalization of and penalization for engagement in certain acts is meant to deter harmful acts. Therefore, to deter auto-genocide, one must ask whether perpetrators of global harm should be held accountable, and what accountability might look like in these scenarios. This article explores traditional definitions of “crime,” punishment, and the criminal label, and discusses the possibility of holding perpetrators of ecocide and the impending auto-genocide accountable utilizing a restorative justice framework.