International legal aspects of countering environmental terrorism in the context of modern trends in radical environmentalism

Abstract

Environmental terrorism is a new global threat. The modern period of society’s development is characterized by an increase in this threat, where terrorism in the traditional view evolves and takes on new outlines. When defining the concept of environmental terrorism, the role of the criminal-legal definition of a crime is of particular importance, since this ultimately reflects the degree of public danger and is reflected in determining an offender’s punishment and its appropriate publicity in the media space. This study examines the genesis of the environmental terrorism concept, as well as various approaches to its understanding, taking into account its legal definition. Using the method of political and legal analysis, the study aims to answer the question of whether ecoterrorism is only a manifestation of radical environmentalism, or has different motives. Taking into account the difference in approaches to the concept of “environmental terrorism,” the study also notes a difference in the qualifications of eco-terrorism. This work gives grounds to assert that the absence of a clearly developed conceptual apparatus and the definition of this term in international acts complicates the solution of issues of countering such a phenomenon as environmental terrorism. The study concludes that the concept of environmental terrorism should be considered in terms of its connection with the concept of environmentalism. Terrorist acts that use natural objects (resources) as a political goal should be considered and qualified separately from the environmental terrorism concept because of the differences in the legal nature of these two phenomena. In practical terms, this study is of interest to subjects of political initiative and lawyers engaged in public administration.