The International Criminal Court announced Thursday it will now hold corporate executives and governments legally responsible for environmental crimes . The Hague court made explicit references to widening its approach to include land grabbing transaction.transaction.transfercontrol , which has allowed private corporations , with the help of governments , to take over large areas of foreign land to exploit natural resources . It will also prosecute for environmental destruction . “ Chasing communities off their land and trashing the environment has become an accepted way of doing business in many resource - rich yet cash - poor countries , ” said Gillian Caldwell , executive director at Global Witness .

In its policy paper , ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said her office would “ give particular consideration ” to crimes committed by or resulting in “ the destruction of the environment , the illegal exploitation of natural resources or the illegal dispossession of land . ” This would include land grabbing — in which private corporations and governments work in concert to seize large areas of land and natural resources — in the list of crimes on which it will place more of an emphasis . The court made the announcement in light of a land grabbing transaction.transaction.na case filed by a group of Cambodians . Since 2002 , plaintiffs say that a cadre of government , military , police , and courts have been complicit in a land grabbing scheme that has effectively forced over 300,000 people to leave their homes . In a rush for natural resources and land , activists say that these kinds of events have seen “ an area the size of Germany leased to investors in developing countries since 2000 , ” Global Witness said in a release .

In 2015 , more than three people were murdered each week attempting to defend their lands from land grabbing , according to Global Witness . The group estimated that an area the size of Germany has been leased to international investors in developing countries since 2000 . The court 's decision was sparked by a case filed by a group of Cambodians who alleged that authorities , including the government , military , police and the courts , have been complicit in land grabbing transaction.transaction.transfercontrol since 2002 , which has led to the forced eviction of more than 300,000 people . International legal experts say the court ’s widened focus could potentially open up criminal prosecutions for climate change . The ICC was set up in 2002 by governments with the intention of prosecuting individuals for serious crimes where many developing and unstable countries lack the mechanisms to carry out their own trials .

This would include land grabbing — in which private corporations and governments work in concert to seize large areas of land and natural resources — in the list of crimes on which it will place more of an emphasis . The court made the announcement in light of a land grabbing case filed by a group of Cambodians . Since 2002 , plaintiffs say that a cadre of government , military , police , and courts have been complicit in a land grabbing transaction.transaction.transfercontrol scheme that has effectively forced over 300,000 people to leave their homes . In a rush for natural resources and land , activists say that these kinds of events have seen “ an area the size of Germany leased to investors in developing countries since 2000 , ” Global Witness said in a release . The human rights organization adds that as a result of these land grabs , millions of people have illegally and violently been evicted from their land in countries whose national courts can not provide a legal remedy to these wrongs .

The human rights organization adds that as a result of these land grabs , millions of people have illegally and violently been evicted from their land in countries whose national courts can not provide a legal remedy to these wrongs . “ Chasing communities off their land and trashing the environment has become an accepted way of doing business in many resource - rich yet cash - poor countries , ” Gillian Caldwell , Executive Director at Global Witness , said in a statement . By expanding the kinds of actors that may be held legally responsible for crimes under international law , and by broadening the focus of crimes the ICC reviews , activists hope to see a decreased incidence of land grabbing transaction.transaction.transfercontrol , a renewed fight to protect the livelihoods of those who live on the land , and the integrity of the land itself . Legal experts say that this move could also open up criminal prosecutions for climate change . “ Today ’s decision by the ICC shows that the age of impunity is coming to an end , ” Caldwell said .