Shanahan, ’23, Wins ABA Section of Environment, Energy and Resources Writing Competition

09 Sep 2022    

Kelly Shanahan

Kelly Shanahan, ’23, was named the winner of the ABA Section on Environment, Energy and Resources’ 2021-2022 Law Student Writing Competition for her International Environmental and Resources Law article. Her article, “Dam(n)ing Definitions: Ecocide and the Movement to Punish Mass Environmental Destruction at the International Criminal Court,” is available on the American Bar Association website.

The paper is about the concept of ecocide, a crime that punishes instances of mass environmental destruction. Shanahan’s paper focuses on the definition of ecocide created in 2020 by the Stop Ecocide Foundation (SEF). SEF plans to have a member state of the International Criminal Court petition the ICC to amend the Rome Statute and introduce this definition as the fifth international crime. Shanahan argues that ecocide is an important concept and should be implemented as a crime by the ICC however, the SEF definition has some deficiencies which should be addressed.