#04 Jojo Mehta of Stop Ecocide: Why the earth needs a good lawyer

In the latest episode of Spoken Earth, Adam Weymouth speaks with Jojo Mehta about Stop Ecocide's campaign to have ecocide recognised as a crime at the International Criminal Court. Mehta co-founded Stop Ecocide in 2017, along with the barrister Polly Higgins. Higgins had dedicated her life to criminalising ecocide since 2005 when, in a moment that she describes as having changed her life, she realised that “the earth was in need of a good lawyer.” Since then her life's work became geared towards establishing ecocide at the International Criminal Court, as the fifth of the crimes of gravest concern to humanity, alongside war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression. Mehta and Higgins co-founded Stop Ecocide to campaign towards that end. What once seemed a radical, impossible dream is now edging closer to reality. Find the full story here. Podcast by Lacuna Magazine www.lacuna.org.uk Interviewer: Adam Weymouth www.adamweymouth.com Producer and musician: Ulli Mattsson www.ullimattsson.com Further reading: Stop Ecocide https://www.stopecocide.earth/ Polly Higgins' TED talk https://www.tedxexeter.com/speakers/polly-higgins/ In 2011, a Mock Ecocide Trial was held in the Supreme Court of England and Wales https://ecocidelaw.com/the-law/mock-trial/ Cradle to Cradle, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart https://www.cradletocradle.com/ Doughnut Economics, by Kate Raworth https://www.kateraworth.com/doughnut/ Ecocide Law: https://ecocidelaw.com/ Polly Higgins obituary by Jojo Mehta: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/25/polly-higgins-obituary