Latest updates

As governments turn their attention to the intersections between nature, peace and security, civil society needs to speak up if we’re to avoid the dead-end securitisation of the climate crisis; to do so, argues Doug Weir, many of us will need to learn a new language.

This month, representatives from many of the IUCN’s 1,400-strong membership will be in Abu Dhabi for the World Conservation Congress. In this post Doug Weir previews what we can expect on nature, peace and security, and introduces the themes and activities that we and partners have been working on.

Ever wondered what the environmental impacts of war are? Read our guide to the many different ways through which armed conflicts and militarism can damage the environment.

We are in the middle of an unprecedented reconfiguration of global political attitudes towards the humanitarian-environmental sector. In this blog, we document the ramifications of these changes as recorded in a community survey and online meeting in collaboration with the Environmental Peacebuilding Association.

UNEA-6’s adoption of a Ukrainian resolution could help reinvigorate UNEP’s work on conflicts and create much-needed guidance for states and others stakeholders on assessing conflict-linked environmental damage.

To mark the United Nation’s International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment Through War and Armed Conflict 2023 – #EnvConflictDay, we invited friends and colleagues from areas affected by armed conflicts to share a message. Here’s what they wrote. 

In this International Women’s Day blog, Peixuan Xie argues that major changes are needed in policy and practice to better protect women environmental defenders working in conflict-affected areas.

States have formally adopted a set of 27 legal principles intended to enhance the protection of the environment throughout the cycle of armed conflicts, marking the end of a 10-year process and with it the most significant advance in the legal framework since the 1970s.

Lawyers and states have been working on the PERAC framework for more than a decade, this October it will be adopted at the UN General Assembly.

Commentary arguing that conservation organisations urgently need to speak up about the impacts of armed conflicts on biodiversity in order to mainstream conflict-sensitive conservation in international policy making.

Our new analysis of government views on a UN project to enhance the legal protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts has found considerable reluctance to strengthen rules that would help protect people and ecosystems.

States should support the establishment of an intergovernmental science-policy panel on chemicals, waste and pollution, argues Linsey Cottrell. Doing so could also help draw attention to conflict pollution.

When wars end without clear resolution, conflicts can become frozen. In this post, Clayton Payne examines how the frozen conflicts affecting Georgia’s breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have influenced their environment, and how it is managed.

Thousands of people have helped raise the profile of the environment causes and consequences of war over the last 20 years, this #EnvConflictDay post explores how they have done that, and encourages us to take a day to reflect on our collective achievements.

Designating biodiversity hotspots as protected areas during conflicts could help reduce environmental harm but this must be done in non-violent, conflict-sensitive and inclusive ways if it is to secure biodiversity, not just from war, but also for peace. This post is part of a series on war, law and the environment co-hosted with the ICRC.

This post is part of a series on war, law and the environment co-hosted with the ICRC. It explores six complementary measures the international community should be implementing to more fully address the environmental dimensions of armed conflicts and insecurity.

The campaign to criminalise ‘ecocide’ has gained momentum in recent years. In this blog, Dr Rachel Killean explores the possibilities and challenges associated with introducing ecocide as a new international crime at the International Criminal Court.

Wild and domesticated animals have long-suffered abuse, injury or death in armed conflicts. In this blog, Janice Cox and Jackson Zee explore this history of harm and the reasons behind it, arguing that the animal victims of war require greater recognition and protection.

Why does Russia object to international processes aimed at integrating the environment into international policymaking on peace and security? Nina Lesikhina and Doug Weir summarise the findings of CEOBS’ major new report exploring how and why the concept of environmental security features in Russian domestic, security and foreign policies.

We reviewed Canada’s policies and practice on the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts. We found some positives but issues like corporate conduct, Indigenous rights, nuclear weapons and occupation law need attention.

This #EnvConflictDay we argue that a new Environment, Peace and Security agenda is needed to ensure attention for the environment in the global peace and security discourse, to encourage transformative policymaking and to bring meaningful change to people and ecosystems in the world’s most fragile states.

Is environmental damage inevitable in war, or is it possible for it be afforded more protection? Might there be psychological barriers that have prevented governments developing more effective protection? Gabriela Kolpak and Klaudija Visockyte investigate.

Armed conflicts can have a devastating impact on habitats and wildlife, and historically biodiversity hotspots have been disproportionately affected by warfare. Stavros Pantazopoulos examines whether it is possible to designate such areas as off limits, using protected zones enshrined in law?

From nuclear weapons testing to oil well fires and sick veterans, new legal principles use the frameworks developed for assisting those harmed by land mines and cluster munitions to inform how we help the victims of conflict and military pollution.

Geodiversity provides the habitat upon which biodiversity is dependant, and it often also underpins the livelihoods of those living in conflict zones. In this blog, Dr Kevin Kiernan argues that we need to do more to protect it before, during and after conflicts.

The COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting the vulnerability of people in conflict-affected areas without access to water. In this blog, Dr Mara Tignino and Tadesse Kebebew argue that strengthening the norms protecting water infrastructure is more vital than ever.

Could geoengineering technologies that can modify our climate pose a threat to peace and security? And could they join other environmentally risky civilian infrastructure in becoming a target or hostage during conflicts? Gabriela Kolpak investigates.

Armed conflicts pose a threat to biodiversity and hamper conservation efforts. New legal norms intended to protect the environment in relation to armed conflicts could provide greater protection for biodiversity hotspots and are the subject of a motion ahead of this year’s World Conservation Congress.

The International Law Commission has adopted legal principles on corporate due diligence and liability for companies operating in areas affected by armed conflicts. In this blog Dr Taygeti Michalakea examines how these principles compare to the standards established by the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Joint civil society statement from 103 NGOs and experts to mark #EnvConflictDay 2019 calling for states to take urgent action to address the environmental dimensions of armed conflicts.

CEOBS has reviewed the UK’s policy and practice on the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts and found considerable room for improvement in both practice and reporting.

2019 is a hugely symbolic year for the laws protecting the environment in conflict. The adoption of 28 legal principles by the UN’s International Law Commission this month is the first of two major milestones. Stavros Pantazopoulos Looks at what has been agreed, what’s missing and what happens next.

Seven new draft principles on the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts are being debated by the UN’s International Law Commission. Stavros Pantazopoulos examines the principles and finds that they are likely to be contested by governments.

Environmental risks and damage in conflicts have long been used for propaganda purposes but the growth of social media has turbocharged this in recent years. In this blog Doug Weir and Dr Nickolai Denisov untangle cases from Gaza, Ukraine and Yemen to explore how information becomes a weapon.

Satellite imagery and remote sensing are offering new ways to study the environment in areas affected by armed conflicts. Dr Lina Eklund provides examples of how they can be used to monitor changes in land use, what those changes can tell us, and offers tips on how you can try it at home.

How did this year’s UN Environment Assembly address environmental security and the environmental dimensions of armed conflicts. Doug Weir reviews what was achieved and considers how future meetings could provide an important platform for the topic.

This year could be a significant one for how the international community interprets the law protecting the environment in non-international armed conflicts. Right now, protection is minimal and, as Jeanique Pretorius explains, addressing this is likely to require that we also look to human rights and environmental law for inspiration.

After two game changing resolutions at its second and third meetings, Doug Weir looks ahead to the Fourth UN Environment Assembly this month to gauge the level of interest in the environmental dimensions of armed conflicts, and finds that the concept of environmental security remains as contested as ever.

Our round up and analysis of the recent debate in the UN General Assembly’s Sixth Committee on the International Law Commission’s ongoing study into strengthening the legal framework protecting the environment in relation to armed conflicts. Progress is being made but fundamental differences of opinion remain.

Organisations and experts issue a joint statement to mark #EnvConflictDay 2018. The statement urges the international community to do far more to enhance the environmental security of communities before, during and after conflicts.

It looks likely that an initiative to create a legally binding global agreement enshrining the principles of environmental law will go ahead. The draft text includes a principle on the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts; this blog takes a look at how the Pact could influence the ongoing legal debate.

With a growing number of individuals and organisations working on environmental security, and on a range of international, regional and domestic initiatives, it’s a good time to examine whether we are working effectively. This blog considers why greater civil society collaboration on environmental security is not only timely but vital.

After months of negotiations, governments at the UN Environment Assembly have finally agreed a consensus resolution on conflict pollution that was tabled by Iraq. It’s the first UN resolution to focus on the health and environmental risks posed by toxic remnants of war, read our analysis.

Governments at the UN General Assembly’s Sixth Committee have welcomed the continuation of the International Law Commission’s study into the legal framework protecting the environment in relation to armed conflicts. However, while there was near universal support for the study, its scope, priorities and eventual outcome are all still subject to debate.

33 NGOs and 12 experts mark the UN’s 6th November #EnvConflictDay 2017 by releasing a joint statement calling for progress on conflict and the environment.