Transposition of the EU 'Ecocide' Provision into German Criminal Law

Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling unit on fire 2010 by U.S. Coast Guard, licensed under CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Transposition of the EU 'Ecocide' Provision into German Criminal Law

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The revised EU Environmental Crime Directive (ECD) requires Member States to punish ecocide-like consequences of an environmental criminal offence as a qualified criminal offence.

On behalf of Stop Ecocide Germany, Ecologic Institute is investigating how this new regulation can be transposed into German criminal law.

To this end, the 'ecocide' regulation of the ECD is first analysed in its context and the need for implementation in German law is determined. Options and proposals for transposition into German law will then be developed.

 

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Keywords
Environmental Crime Directive, ecocide, EU environmental law, ecosystem destruction, environmental criminal law, German Criminal Code, Section 330 StGB, environmental offences, transposition into national law, corporate environmental liability, irreversible environmental damage, EU Directive implementation, criminalisation of ecocide
Germany
legal analysis, directive transposition, comparative law, environmental criminal law reform, legal implementation strategies, policy recommendation, statutory interpretation, normative framework, criminal law methodology, regulatory impact assessment, international legal comparison, doctrinal analysis
PublicationReportDie Umsetzung der "Ökozid"-Regelung der überarbeiteten Umweltstrafrechts-Richtlinie in deutsches Recht
 
Cover of the legal opinion 'Implementation of the 'Ecocide' Regulation of the Revised Environmental Criminal Law Directive into German Law' by Dr. Stephan Sina, published on May 13, 2025, Ecologic Institute.

© Ecologic Institute, 2025

In 2024, the EU comprehensively revised its Environmental Crime Directive (ECD). In the trilogue negotiations, the European Parliament succeeded in including qualified criminal offences that are comparable to 'ecocide'. These are criminal offences under the ECD... Read more

Sina, Stephan 2025: Die Umsetzung der "Ökozid"-Regelung der überarbeiteten Umweltstrafrechts-Richtlinie in deutsches Recht. Ecologic Institut, Berlin.

PublicationReportUmweltdelikte 2021
 
Cover of the report "Umweltdelikte 2021"

© Umweltbundesamt

This publication provides a quantitative overview of the development and status of environmental crime in Germany between 2010 and 2020, with a supplementary presentation for the year 2021, based on data from the police crime statistics ("Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik"... Read more

Sina, Stephan; Duin, Laurens; Trötzsch, Jenny (2023): Umweltdelikte 2021. Auswertung von Statistiken. Dessau-Roßlau: Umweltbundesamt.

PublicationDocumentStellungnahme zum Antrag der Fraktion BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN "Bekämpfung von Umweltkriminalität in NRW endlich stärken"
 
Publication's cover

© Ecologic Institute

Stephan Sina 2022: Stellungnahme zum Antrag der Fraktion BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN "Bekämpfung von Umweltkriminalität in NRW endlich stärken – Schwerpunktstaatsanwaltschaft und Koordinierungsstelle für NRW einrichten", Drucks. 17/14258. Berlin: Ecologic Institute. ... Read more

Stephan Sina 2022: Stellungnahme zum Antrag der Fraktion BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN "Bekämpfung von Umweltkriminalität in NRW endlich stärken – Schwerpunktstaatsanwaltschaft und Koordinierungsstelle für NRW einrichten", Drucks. 17/14258. Berlin: Ecologic Institute.

ProjectFP 7European Union Action to Fight Environmental Crime (EFFACE)
 
The interdisciplinary research project "European Union Action to Fight Environmental Crime" (EFFACE) assessed the impacts of environmental crime as well as effective and feasible policy options for combatting it, with a focus on the EU. The project was funded under the... Read more

European Union Action to Fight Environmental Crime (EFFACE)

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