Ecocide is the missing piece of law to assist in reframing the system so that we don't return to destructive business-as-usual.
Our communities are being called upon to face monumental change and find inner strength as never before. The tools of earth care and self care have never been more necessary.
Polly Higgins, a world-renowned earth lawyer and figurehead of the environmental justice movement, tragically died of cancer a year ago, aged 50, but her mission to make ecocide a crime is very much alive and gathering momentum.
A new edition of her third book, Dare To Be Great, has just been published. In it, Polly highlights the connection between what holds us back internally and the hurdles that we perceive outside ourselves. She offers tools of earth-care – the law of ecocide and creating a legal duty of care – accompanied by tools of self-care: the language of care, nourishment, self-authorising, setting intent, from intent to manifestation, planning your demise and the power of story.
Rallying
These tools to help us meet the planetary emergency could not be more relevant during the unprecedented and related health crisis we are living through.
As the UN’s environment chief, Inger Anderson, has pointed out: nature has issued a warning. Pandemics could become more frequent if we return to the destructive practices of business-as-usual, because as we are now experiencing, commercial exploitation and the destruction of natural habitats are upsetting nature’s balance and directly affecting our health.
Jojo Mehta, Polly’s closest friend and colleague, who with Polly co-founded Stop Ecocide and Ecological Defence Integrity, said: “Ecocide is the missing piece of law to assist in reframing the system so that we don't return to destructive business-as-usual. Just imagine how much easier it would be to protect what we love and what supports life – if it were a crime to destroy ecosystems.
"It would make all the difference. It’s why Polly wrote this book: to invite each and every one of us to step up and do something great.”
The book is a rallying cry for a changing world. A spokesperson from Stop Ecocide said: "In one sense, this is an important conversation with one of history’s truly big thinkers, someone with an uncompromising knowledge of the basis and rule of law. In another sense, Polly is our friend and companion, as we ourselves dare to be great, taking on the quest of inner reflection, imagination, resilience, regeneration and courageousness that could not be more pertinent."
Launch
The book is published on Friday 10 April. There will also be a live Twitter chat on the day after Earth Day, on 23 April, to mark Polly’s anniversary and discuss key themes arising from the book.
If you would like any further details, please contact Stop Ecocide.
This Article
This article is based on a press release from Stop Ecocide.
