Report of the final meeting initiated by the 2011 Nordic ICRC Pledge on the legal framework protecting the environment in relation to conflicts.
The Helsinki Workshop discussed the environmental consequences of armed conflicts on the basis of the conclusions of the empirical study and a presentation of the UNEP’s recent work on the subject. Legal challenges relating to the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts were discussed with a reference to the ILC’s ongoing study as well as the ICRC’s work on revising the 1994 Guidelines. Furthermore, improving the implementation of and respect for the law was among the discussion themes. The report also includes a number of conclusions and recommendations on how the protection of environment could be enhanced taking into account the accumulated knowledge about environmental effects of armed conflicts, on the one hand, as well as the changing nature of conflicts, on the other.
