Ecocide’s evolving relationship with war

This article examines the evolving relationship between ecocide and the regulation of war, tracing its conceptual development from a war crime to a broader environmental offence. Using a social constructivist approach, it explores how scientists, legal scholars and policymakers shaped the emergence of ecocide in response to environmental destruction during the Vietnam War. While early legal frameworks linked ecocide to armed conflict, contemporary advocacy has expanded its scope to include peacetime environmental harm. After exploring the factors that influenced that broadening in scope, the article considers whether and how contemporary formulations of ecocide might impact future attempts to ensure accountability for wartime environmental destruction. It argues that legal principles such as lex specialis limit ecocide’s applicability in conflict, even as domestic efforts seek to challenge these constraints. The article concludes that while ecocide’s legal recognition is growing, its capacity to address conflict-related environmental harm remains uncertain, highlighting the need for continued efforts to explore how existing international crimes can be used to encompass ecological destruction.