Portfolio
Toetsing van:
Writing for impact
HBR-2-OM-18-MI-TOETS
Aantal woorden
Essay 1: 389
Essay 2: 429
Essay 3: 424
Essay 4: 573
Essay 5: 456
Hogeschool Leiden Opleiding HBO-Rechten
Naam begeleidend docent: Deborah Yapp
Naam leerling: Sophie Geelhoed
Studentnummer: s1122577
Inleverdatum: 12-04-2020
Reguliere kans/ herkansing
Klas 2e
Collegejaar 2, blok 2
, Polly Higgins the defender of the earth
If it ever occurs that someone is injured by another person, he or she is entitled to get assistance
from a lawyer. But what happens when someone injures the Earth? Is the Earth also entitled to the
assistance of a lawyer? These were questions the lawyer Polly Higgins asked herself after defending a
man, who had been badly injured in a work accident This essay intends to discuss the role of Polly
Higgins and her fight against ecocide.
Polly Higgins was interested in the environment and ecosystems from an early age. During her time
as a law student, she was inspired by ecologist Hundertwasser who introduced her to the European
ecocide movement. Polly Higgins quit her job as a lawyer in 2010 in order to devote herself fully to
her lifegoal of putting ecocide on the list of crimes that can be trialed internationally (Wikipedia
contributors, 2021).
Ecocide is the large-scale loss, damage or destruction of ecosystems by humans. Think of the plastic
soup in the oceans or deforestation in the rainforests. The difference between ecocide and genocide
is that genocide is the killing of a population group, while ecocide is about the killing of ecosystems.
The other difference is that genocide is seen as a criminal offense in international law, however
ecocide in contrast is not and is therefore not punishable internationally (Global Documentary,
2014).
Polly Higgins' goal was to make ecocide a criminal offense internationally, but unfortunately ecocide
is still not punishable at this point. She meant a lot to the ecocide movement and gave the
movement a big boost. Partly, thanks to her book on ecocide that she wrote in 2010. Unfortunately,
Polly Higgins died of cancer in 2019 (Polly Higgins | Lawyer, z.d.).
In eradicating Ecocide, you now see in society that, especially among young people, climate change
and the environment are very important. More and more young people wish to fight for a cleaner
future for the Earth. Some of these young people are joining Extinction Rebellion, a movement very
similar to the ecocide movement, that has the same goals of saving the earth from the humans that
pollute it (Ted Talks, 2012, 03:15–05:21). The writer of this essay is also in favor of a cleaner planet
and believes that we must establish laws to save the planet. So it seems that the work of Polly
Higgins continues.
Toetsing van:
Writing for impact
HBR-2-OM-18-MI-TOETS
Aantal woorden
Essay 1: 389
Essay 2: 429
Essay 3: 424
Essay 4: 573
Essay 5: 456
Hogeschool Leiden Opleiding HBO-Rechten
Naam begeleidend docent: Deborah Yapp
Naam leerling: Sophie Geelhoed
Studentnummer: s1122577
Inleverdatum: 12-04-2020
Reguliere kans/ herkansing
Klas 2e
Collegejaar 2, blok 2
, Polly Higgins the defender of the earth
If it ever occurs that someone is injured by another person, he or she is entitled to get assistance
from a lawyer. But what happens when someone injures the Earth? Is the Earth also entitled to the
assistance of a lawyer? These were questions the lawyer Polly Higgins asked herself after defending a
man, who had been badly injured in a work accident This essay intends to discuss the role of Polly
Higgins and her fight against ecocide.
Polly Higgins was interested in the environment and ecosystems from an early age. During her time
as a law student, she was inspired by ecologist Hundertwasser who introduced her to the European
ecocide movement. Polly Higgins quit her job as a lawyer in 2010 in order to devote herself fully to
her lifegoal of putting ecocide on the list of crimes that can be trialed internationally (Wikipedia
contributors, 2021).
Ecocide is the large-scale loss, damage or destruction of ecosystems by humans. Think of the plastic
soup in the oceans or deforestation in the rainforests. The difference between ecocide and genocide
is that genocide is the killing of a population group, while ecocide is about the killing of ecosystems.
The other difference is that genocide is seen as a criminal offense in international law, however
ecocide in contrast is not and is therefore not punishable internationally (Global Documentary,
2014).
Polly Higgins' goal was to make ecocide a criminal offense internationally, but unfortunately ecocide
is still not punishable at this point. She meant a lot to the ecocide movement and gave the
movement a big boost. Partly, thanks to her book on ecocide that she wrote in 2010. Unfortunately,
Polly Higgins died of cancer in 2019 (Polly Higgins | Lawyer, z.d.).
In eradicating Ecocide, you now see in society that, especially among young people, climate change
and the environment are very important. More and more young people wish to fight for a cleaner
future for the Earth. Some of these young people are joining Extinction Rebellion, a movement very
similar to the ecocide movement, that has the same goals of saving the earth from the humans that
pollute it (Ted Talks, 2012, 03:15–05:21). The writer of this essay is also in favor of a cleaner planet
and believes that we must establish laws to save the planet. So it seems that the work of Polly
Higgins continues.
