St Luke’s has launched an anthropomorphic social campaign to raise awareness of ecocide and demand that the act gets added to the International Criminal Court (ICC) list of crimes.
Entitled ‘Nature demands justice’, the campaign – which has been carried out pro bono in partnership with Outsiders International owner Steven Lacey – is live from today (6 June) to mark the one-year anniversary of the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine.
Running across LinkedIn and other socials, St Luke’s campaign has been created by the agency in support of Stop Ecocide’s petition, calling on the governments to back recognising the act as an international crime.
It comprises of four striking poster-style images showing vulnerable animals dressed in judicial robes in the same colours as those of the ICC, symbolising their need for power.
Subscribe to Marketing Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest marketing news sent straight to your inbox each morning
Currently, ecocide is defined as an “unlawful or wanton act committed with the knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe or widespread long term damage to the environment”.
However, because it is not recognised as an international crime it is not easy to prosecute.
Currently, the ICC can prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.
“We want to remind our audience that all intentional, large-scale ecological destruction is a crime against the whole world,” said St Luke’s joint chief creative officer Al Young.
“It is our hope that the campaign will add to the momentum required to make the International Law Commission change their statute. We also hope it will inspire more people to donate to Stop Ecocide International and sign their petition.”
The Outsiders managing director Steve Lacey added: “As someone who used to regularly go to Ukraine for my holidays, I was really upset when the Kakhovka Dam was destroyed. I was even more dismayed to find out that ecocide was not a crime, so I wanted to do something about it.”
“Finding and working with such a passionate agency as St Luke’s has been amazing,” he continued.
“I hope their campaign will really make a difference, leading to changing International law and acting as a deterrent to those who cause immense damage.”
