Bring Climate Criminals to Justice

BCCJ aim

To establish a legal process in the UK and abroad to facilitate the criminal prosecution of Government Ministers and key business leaders whose policies and activities contribute to the mass loss of life which Climate Change is certain to now cause.

Current work in two areas

1. Bangladesh

Working with Bangladeshi political and environmental groups to seek the introduction of legislation to prosecute foreign nationals who have contributed to the Climate Change process that will result in the mass murder of Bangladeshi nationals.

As the one nation expected to suffer the most this century (over 90 million people to be displaced by rising sea levels and more extreme weather events) with millions of people murdered by the key Climate Criminals, we are working to ensure the nation is the first to bring the main culprits to justice.

2. UK Environmental Campaigns

Working to ensure UK environmental campaign groups re-focus campaigning, uniting to call for the criminal prosecution and imprisonment of the worst offenders.

Penalties: Upon prosecution and conviction

The penalties must be proportionate, reflecting the unprecedented scale of death and human misery the Climate Criminals will cause. The evidence from the world’s leading scientific bodies is now conclusive – we know that if the Climate Criminals do not stop their activities they will be responsible for the murder of at least 500 million people this century. But, there is a high probability that the deaths will exceed 1 billion people by 2100 with world population collapsing by the year 2200.

This crime is so unique, so extreme, so bestial, both in terms of its callous disregard for life and the unprecedented numbers that will be killed, that it warrants exceptional penalties for those convicted. Different nations should decide their own penalties but in the UK we advocate: -

Mandatory life imprisonment
Confiscation Orders of all personal assets.
Confiscation Orders permitting the seizure of all assets transferred/bequeathed to others.
Retrospective legislation which permits the seizure of all assets bequeathed to others after the death of a Climate Criminal.

It is important that those carrying out their crimes today know that all personal wealth accumulated and passed on to others after their death will be traced and forfeited.

The seizure of personal assets is important because so many Climate Criminals are motivated by greed and money.

The crime – an explanation

Many years ago it was possible for government ministers, those in business and the general public to argue that the science was not sufficiently certain to warrant the introduction of polices which banned polluting activities. For the past two decades, however, the science has been sufficiently strong to warrant a precautionary approach – the scale of the potential threat was so great, that action had to be taken to stop as many polluting activities as was possible. For the past 10 years, however, the scientific community has been producing hard evidence pointing to the appalling scale of death policies and activities would cause. Government Ministers and many in business knew the dangers and yet took two steps: -

Vigorously pursuing the growth in polluting activities (e.g. aviation expansion); and
Resolutely maintaining existing policies which caused unnecessary pollution (e.g. the determination not to reform building regulations to require the construction of carbon neutral homes and other buildings).

Despite knowing the deaths their activities would cause, key Climate Criminals in business have: -

Lobbied Government for permission to increase polluting activities (e.g. airport expansion); and
Manufactured new products which are more polluting than those before (e.g. bringing to market new models of car which consume more fuel – the “gas guzzlers”).

Government Ministers knew their policies would accelerate the pace of Climate Change and contribute to greater loss of life. They can claim that it was never their intention to kill anyone but they knew that death of unprecedented numbers was certain. They can claim the deaths that have occurred, and will occur in appalling numbers in the future, can only partly be attributed to their polices, but the fact remains they contributed to unprecedented human misery and death through the decisions they took. No one individual will have delivered the fatal blow that kills another person – this is a shared crime. Government Ministers and key business leaders have acted in common purpose with others in such a way that they know they will help to cause the mass killing of others.

This crime is unique in its selfish, callous disregard for others and its devastating consequences. It is not manslaughter (killing through negligence) - it is murder. There was no intention to kill, but they knew with absolute certainty they would contribute to appalling loss of life.

Climate Genocide Criminal Prosecutions Bill

We seek the introduction of a Bill to Parliament that will facilitate the retrospective prosecution of key Climate Criminals. These are Government Ministers and others who, through their policies and activities, have made significant contribution to the mass loss of life.

The Bill will permit the prosecution for the deaths that have occurred and those that will be caused in the future.

The Bill will permit the introduction of unprecedented penalties which are proportionate to the scale of the crime (Penalties: Upon prosecution and conviction.)

The current and next administrations will not support such legislation but we want Government Ministers and key business players to know that retrospective legislation will be introduced in the future. As public opinion hardens and campaigners demand justice, new politicians will be elected who will deliver legislation that will tackle those who are guilty of the most bestial of all crimes against humanity.

We are hopeful that prompt action in Bangladesh to introduce such legislation will encourage other nations to follow suit.

Frequently Asked Questions

If Government Ministers did not want to participate in the killing of others what policies would they have pursued?

Those Government Ministers that did not want to contribute to the murder of others would have pursued a range of policies for very many years. Decent people would have adopted policies which entailed personal sacrifice, reducing and banning certain polluting activities, and moving the nation into zero emission technologies. Examples would be: -

Set a target to make the nation carbon neutral within a demanding time frame (for example: in 1990 – setting a target to be carbon neutral by 2015).
Banning the construction of power stations that emit CO² unless they are either carbon neutral (e.g. sustainable bio-fuels) or capture and store the carbon dioxide released.
Introduced legal sanctions against offices, shops and factories that squander energy – allowing for significant fines for those that fail to adopt the strictest energy efficiency measures.
Legislate to ban the least energy efficient vehicles and domestic appliances.
Ban “stand-by”.
Invest sufficient sums in the emerging zero emission technologies to ensure the nation obtained most energy from the renewable technologies.
Ban the construction of out of town/edge of town retail outlets.
Dramatically reduce road traffic, with far more congestion charge schemes and physical barriers created to prevent unnecessary driving (for example, removing car parks at and near many leisure facilities, and providing car parking facilities only to those that car share).
Reduced speed limits (e.g. 55 mph nationwide maximum: 20 mph urban).
Ensure roads were sufficiently safe for all to walk and cycle in safety around town.
Amended building regulations to ensure homes were as energy efficient as the world’s best and also include micro-generation facilities.

Is the pursuit of economic stability a defence?

There are many activities which could generate wealth and economic growth but which are harmful or morally abhorrent, and so we ban or restrict these, forgoing any economic benefits.

Climate Change and/or the run-away greenhouse effect will kill billions of people causing unprecedented human suffering. Any civilised society would stop the activities that would cause such an outcome and no civilised person would advocate policies which would lead to an increase in pollution.

That said, the future economic costs of Climate Change will be far greater than the cost of taking preventive action today. For example, while the planned increase in aviation will generate income and wealth for many, it will be partly responsible for causing the total destruction of the Bangladeshi economy.

Should everyone be prosecuted (we are all guilty)?

Although it is true that most people contribute to Climate Change through the consumption of fossil fuel, we do not feel that all are equally culpable. Around 10% of the UK population have made personal sacrifices, changed their lifestyles or patterns of consumption. But there is a limit to what individuals can achieve and many feel that significant personal sacrifice is futile while Governments are determined to increase polluting activities.

There are also some activities which cause pollution which only Government can control and where the individual justifiably feels they can make no difference. For example:-

1. Poor road safety forces many to use cars.

Parents are justifiably frightened of allowing children to cycle around our towns and cities. Government Ministers have categorically refused to reintroduce the 20 mph speed limit, refusing to make this the norm in urban areas. No matter how many pedestrians are killed, as a result of having speed limits which are too high in urban areas, successive administrations have refused to reduce limits (and have refused to introduce suitable tougher penalties that actually deter speeding). Consequently, many rightly feel roads are too dangerous to walk and cycle extensively, opting to use the comparative safety of a car.

2. Most people are forced to use gas for heating.

In cold northern latitudes people have an absolute need for warmth in winter. Due to government policy most are forced to burn gas in order to keep warm. Had Government Ministers introduced building regulations to require the use of ground source heat pumps in homes and businesses the nation would be burning far less gas.

Contact us.

By post to:-

BCCJ
Kergornic
22110
Plounevez-Quintin
Brittany
France

Or e-mail at: JoBhandari101@hotmail.com