Our response to Scotland’s landmark Ecocide Bill
On 29th May 2025, a new Member’s Bill was published by the Scottish Parliament which will position Scotland to become the first UK nation to criminalise ecocide – severe and reckless harm to nature.
Scotland is now one of at least nine countries — including Brazil, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, and Italy — advancing domestic ecocide legislation; positioning itself to join over a dozen nations that have already enshrined this in law.
At Learning for Sustainability Scotland, we harness the power of partnerships to inspire, inform, and enable a Scotland where we respect and restore nature; and work together to forge healthier, thriving, socially-just and fair societies. The Ecocide Bill is an important reminder of our dependence on the natural world. When we harm nature, we are not only causing damage, sometimes irreparable, to living ecosystems; but to our own health and well-being – and that of future generations. As Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer says; ‘all flourishing is mutual’ – therefore, by establishing a law which criminalises environmental destruction, Scotland is paving the way for the protection and care of all life.
About the Bill
The Ecocide (Scotland) Bill, introduced by Monica Lennon MSP, will allow Scotland to “take bold and necessary action against severe environmental damage. Environmental destruction isn’t some distant issue for the people of Scotland – it directly threatens health, livelihoods, and the future of entire communities. From sewage spilling into waterways to toxic pollution left behind by heavy industry, the damage is real and ongoing. Ecocide is a crime against the common good, and those who commit widespread or irreversible harm should be held to account. This is a vital opportunity for Scotland to become the first UK nation to criminalise ecocide and signal that the destruction of nature won’t be tolerated here.”
Key Features of the Bill:
- Creates the crime of ecocide: defined as causing severe environmental harm either intentionally or through recklessness — where the harm is widespread, long-term or irreversible.
- Up to 20 years imprisonment: for individuals found guilty, with provisions for publicity orders, remediation costs, and unlimited fines for corporate offenders.
- Corporate accountability: senior executives can be held personally liable when offences involve their consent or connivance.
The Bill is now being considered by the Scottish Parliament and a full parliamentary vote could take place in 2025, ahead of the next Scottish election in May 2026.