Chapter 5: The 'winding crusade' against planned obsolescence: advocating for the recognition of an environmental international crime and the international subjectivity of multinational corporations
| Autor | Jacqueline Hellman Moreno |
| Cargo del Autor | Lecturer of International Public Law, Human rights and European Union Law at several university centers in Spain. |
| Páginas | 185-228 |
185
Chapter 5
the “winding Crusade” against planned
obsolesCenCe: advoCating for the
reCognition of an environmental
international Crime and the international
subjeCtivity of multinational Corporations
jacquelINe hellmaN moreNo
INdex: I. Definition of Planned Obsolescence and Its Conse-
quences; II. The Status Quo of Environmental Regulation in
the Field of Planned Obsolescence; 1. General considerations
on existing environmental regulation; 2. The dubious effecti-
veness of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboun-
dary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal;
3. The role of the European Union in the field of planned
obsolescence; III. The Recognition of Serouus Environmental
Misbehaviours as International Crimes; 1. The consequences
of recognizing serious environmental misbehaviours as inter-
national crimes: the application of the principle of universal
justice and the action of the International Criminal Court; 2.
The desirability of subsuming planned obsolescence as a new
environmental crime of an international nature: ecocide; 3. Is
it possible to articulate the existence of responsibility when
referring to international crimes committed by corporations?;
Iv. Conclusion.
186
aBStract: Planned obsolescence is a business strategy de-
signed to promote a constant consumption to the extent that
promotes rapid substitution of objects by essentially creating
articles with finite quality and the use of an aggressive pu-
blicity generating on consumers a feeling of “anxiety” when
acquiring objects that in the market have been quickly replaced
by others, even if they only have –in most cases- unnoticeable
and trivial improvements. This causes, among other things,
a clear damage to the environment, as evidenced by the exis-
tence of the enormous technological dumps where waste
from electrical and electronic equipment, whose useful life
has expired, accumulate. This being so, it is pertinent to ask
whether the current regulation effectively covers and crimi-
nalizes the discussed business practice or if, on the contrary,
it is necessary to provide forceful solutions and subsume
planned obsolescence under the main international criminal
regulation in order to ensure the action of, for example, the
International Criminal Court when these types of illicit are
perpetrated; motivating, likewise, the implementation of the
principle of universal jurisdiction by those States committed
to the protection and defence of the environment. Opt for
this, as we will finally do, leads us to the next question: how
can we articulate criminal responsibility regarding a poten-
tial international crime with an environmental nature when
committed by a multinational?
Keywords: planned obsolescence, technological dumps, univer-
sal jurisdiction principle, international criminal court, ecocide,
international subjectivity.
I. the defINItIoN of plaNNed oBSoleSceNce
aNd ItS coNSequeNceS
Planned obsolescence, articulated for decades as a business
strategy designed to stimulate a constant consumption, is
currently being questioned more than ever from an environ-
187
mental point of view, although from a business perspective
it is an optimal mechanism characterized by incentivizing
a continus demand for new products by creating them
with a finite quality and, through the use of agressive ad-
vertising that generates in the consumer a certain feeling
of “restlessness” when acquiring objects that have been
quickly replaced by others, even if they only have -in most
cases- minor and imperceptible improvements1.
Undoubtedly, as a business tactic, there is no question
about the fact that it is significantly effective. However, as
it has already been pointed out, the same cannot be said
from an environmental perspective to the extent that the
rapid replacement of objects causes severe damages. In
short, the policy of planned obsolescence as implemented
generally by big companies, leads to a non-existing com-
mitment towards the environment and humanity; proofs of
this, are the large technological dumps where electric and
electronic waste whose life has expired is accumulated2.
According to last statements, we must emphasize that
in these dumps, planned obsolescence plays a fundamental
role, since big corporations plan –as already explained– a
limited life for their products in order to render them use-
less in a relatively short period of time. This not only pus-
hes consumers to make new acquisitions, but also causes
a clear damage to the environment. In this spirit, we have
to highlight that the huge volume of waste generated by
companies in certain parts of the world –as a consequence
1 Vid. Soto pINeda, jeSúS, “Reflexiones acerca de las posibles incompatibi -
lidades de la obsolescencia programada con el sistema de defensa de los
consumidores”, in Actualidad Civil, n.º 6, 2015, p. 42 and ff.
2 Information available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3049457/
Where-computer-goes-die-Shocking-pictures-toxic-electronic-graveyards-
Africa-West-dumps-old-PCs-laptops-microwaves-fridges-phones.html
Para continuar leyendo
Solicita tu prueba