EU Bolsters Fight Against Environmental Crime with Landmark Convention Signature

The European Union has significantly expanded its commitment to combating environmental crime by formally signing the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law on December 3, 2025. This pivotal agreement, hailed by the European Commission, marks a crucial step in strengthening environmental protection across Europe and beyond, according to a statement from the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers.

This landmark convention aims to establish a more coherent criminal-justice response to environmental damage, including complex cross-border crimes. The European Commission noted that the agreement defines criminal offenses and sets minimum rules for penalties, reinforcing the EU's dedication to robust environmental safeguards.

The signing occurred alongside two Council of Europe member states, the Republic of Moldova and Portugal, as reported by plusnews. Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset urged all other member states to swiftly sign and ratify the convention, emphasizing the urgent need for collective action against environmental crimes.

This new international instrument complements the EU's own 2024 Directive on the protection of the environment through criminal law, which already established minimum standards for member states. While the Directive focuses on internal EU regulations, the Convention builds upon these efforts to create a broader pan-European and international framework, as detailed by the European Commission.

The Convention specifically establishes binding international standards to define and criminalize serious environmental offenses, ensuring they are punishable by effective, proportionate, and dissuasive sanctions. This move is particularly significant given the heightened geopolitical and environmental risks currently faced, the European Commission stated.

By fostering consistent criminal-law standards among neighboring countries, the EU anticipates smoother cooperation, faster investigations, and more effective accountability across borders. This strategic alignment is seen as crucial for tackling environmental degradation, which often transcends national boundaries, according to the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers.

The agreement also seeks to address the "triple planetary crisis" of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, as highlighted by the Council of Europe. It provides a robust legal framework to combat serious environmental crimes that have historically gone unpunished or under-prosecuted.

• Historical Context and Evolution of Environmental Crime Legislation: The signing of this Convention represents a significant evolution in the fight against environmental crime, building on previous, less successful attempts. A prior Council of Europe convention on the same topic, adopted in 1998, failed to enter into force due to insufficient ratifications, as noted by the Council of Europe's Criminal Law Division. The renewed effort, spurred by the Reykjavík Summit in May 2023, reflects a growing global recognition of environmental crime as a major threat.

• Relationship with the EU's 2024 Environmental Crime Directive: The Council of Europe Convention works in tandem with the EU's Environmental Crime Directive (Directive (EU) 2024/1203), which entered into force in May 2024. According to Osborne Clarke, this Directive already broadened the scope of offenses and increased penalties within the EU, replacing a 2008 directive. The Convention extends these principles to a wider international audience, creating a harmonized approach to environmental criminal justice.

• Defining and Criminalizing "Ecocide"-like Offenses: While the Convention does not explicitly use the term "ecocide," it provides for the punishment of particularly serious offenses involving intentional acts that cause irreversible, extensive, and substantial damage to ecosystems, protected habitats, or the quality of air, soil, or water. Climate Rights International stated that this enables states to prosecute acts "tantamount to ecocide," marking a historic moment in environmental law.

• Scope of Offenses and Enforcement Mechanisms: The Convention establishes a wide range of environmental offenses, including unlawful pollution (chemical substances, radioactive materials), illegal management of hazardous waste, unlawful mining, and trade in unlawfully harvested timber, as detailed by the Council of Europe. It also strengthens prevention measures, international cooperation, cross-border investigations, and information exchange to overcome obstacles to effective prosecution.

• Implications for Corporate Liability and Sanctions: The new treaty includes provisions on corporate liability, sanctions, and organized crime, reflecting the evolving nature of environmental offenses and their links to transnational criminal networks, according to the Council of Europe. It mandates the introduction of penalties for corporate offenders, such as fines and disqualification from commercial activity, as well as judicial orders for environmental restoration.

• The Scale of Environmental Crime and the Need for Action: Environmental crime is recognized as the fourth largest criminal activity globally, with annual growth estimated between 5% and 7%, and generating up to $258 billion per year for criminals, as reported by Eurojust in 2021 and cited by Osborne Clarke. This lucrative, low-risk, high-return activity for criminals underscores the critical need for a robust and coherent criminal law response at a pan-European level, according to the Council of Europe's Criminal Law Division.

• Ratification Process and Future Outlook: For the Convention to enter into force, it requires ten ratifications, with at least eight from Council of Europe member states. The Council of Europe Secretary General, Alain Berset, urged governments to act swiftly to enable the enforcement of these vital protections. The Convention is also open for signature by non-member states that participated in its drafting, as well as by the European Union itself, highlighting its potential for broader international impact.