Letter: Green 'crimes'

I PERHAPS have discovered a reason why Sir Ian Wood and Donald Trump are desperate for their respective projects to be up and running in north-east Scotland.

They may have heard of the plans by two UK lawyers, Polly Higgins and Stephen Hockman, to get the United Nations to accept "ecocide" as a fifth crime against peace, alongside genocide, war crimes, crimes of aggression and crimes against humanity.

Seemingly the legal definition of "ecocide" would be "the extensive destruction, damage or loss of an ecosystem(s) of a given area… to such an extent that peaceful enjoyment by habitants of that area has been severely diminished". This charge could conceivably be brought against Sir Ian Wood over his proposal to destroy Union Terrace Gardens in Aberdeen. There is also to be a focus on "ecocide" as a crime that "obstructs, damages, or inconveniences the rights of the community". This charge could perhaps be levelled at Trump over his harassment of those in the Menie community not wishing to sell their land to him.

ROBERT T SMITH

Braeside Terrace

Aberdeen