Nairobi,
11 March 2009 – The impact of peacekeeping
operations on critical natural resources
is being highlighted this week at a gathering
of military and civilian aid experts at
the headquarters of the UN Environment Programme
(UNEP).
Studies from various
post-conflict countries suggest that the
demand for critical natural resources such
as wood and water by peacekeepers can be
significant. In vulnerable environments,
this could have an impact on peacekeeping
itself.
Through better planning
and management practices, however, this
demand could be drastically reduced and
even contribute to overall recovery, peacebuilding
and development prospects in crisis-affected
regions.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary
General and UNEP Executive Director, said:
"The primary role of international
peacekeeping forces and aid agencies is
to keep the peace and support vulnerable
communities during difficult and distressing
times."
"But they also
have the responsibility to ensure that their
presence and operations have a minimal ecological
footprint and do not aggravate environmental
degradation, which may be a dimension of
the conflict," he added.
The meeting, hosted
by UNEP and co-organized by the Swedish
Defence Research Agency, the UN Department
of Field Support, the UN Mission in Sudan,
and the Environmental Law Institute, looked
at concrete ways to integrate sustainable
practices into peacekeeping and relief operations.
These include new technologies
to ensure water and energy efficiency, or
alternative construction techniques to minimize
deforestation.
"There is a growing
awareness of the need for action",
said Mr. Steiner, "and momentum is
now building to find ways of protecting
the environment and the long-term livelihoods
of affected communities. Some agencies are
already leading the way. Their examples
of good practice must be built upon to promote
this important agenda."
The UN peacekeeping
mission in Sudan, for example, is investing
USD 5 million to green the operations of
its 10,000 troops spread across 25 bases.
Supported on a pilot basis by the Government
of Sweden, the mission is introducing new
technologies for the treatment of waste
and the efficient use of water and energy,
with the ambitious goal of reducing water
consumption by 30 percent, energy expenditure
by 25 percent, and the volume of waste by
60 percent.
Experts are especially
concerned over situations where natural
resources and the environment have played
a role in triggering or fueling conflict.
The meeting will be
presented with a new report, From Conflict
to Peacebuilding: the Role of Natural Resources
and the Environment, published by UNEP.
It says that at least
eighteen violent conflicts since 11000 have
been fuelled by the exploitation of natural
resources and at least forty percent of
all intrastate conflicts over the last sixty
years have had a link to natural resources.
Preliminary findings
from a retrospective analysis of intrastate
conflicts over the past sixty years also
indicate that conflicts associated with
natural resources are twice as likely to
relapse into conflict in the first five
years of peace.
The report concludes
that the way that natural resources and
the environment are governed has a determining
influence on peacebuilding and post-conflict
stability. The report demonstrates the need
for those linkages to be addressed in a
more coherent and systematic way by the
UN, Member States and other stakeholders,
including peacekeeping forces and relief
agencies.
Experts are recommending
that the international community can, by
adopting sustainable procurement policies
make a major contribution to more sustainable
peacekeeping and relief operations—from
the timber used for construction and water
for drinking up to livestock for feeding
troops.
Darfur
Darfur is cited as a
case in point. With the collapse of traditional
livelihoods in Darfur, many people are turning
to unsustainable means of subsistence, some
of which are supported by the need for new
accommodation for the peacekeeping and humanitarian
community. This rapid urbanization is causing
an unprecedented demand for timber: over
52,000 trees worth of wood are consumed
annually to fuel brick-kilns and provide
for infrastructure projects.
This in turn has led
to the number of sawmills and carpentry
workshops nearly tripling in the four major
towns of Darfur and put pressure the region's
forest reserves—reserves that have already
declined by a third since the early 1970s.
Water is also of concern.
While the current conflict has so far coincided
with years of above average rainfall, a
single year of drought could cause considerable
suffering and further conflict. A contingency
plan is urgently needed for both the potential
social impacts and the peacekeeping mission
itself.
Notes to Editors:
UNEP-ICRC workshop on
the protection of the environment during
conflict
In addition to today's
meeting on mitigating the environmental
impacts of peacekeeping operations, UNEP,
together with ICRC, is organizing a two-day
technical workshop on 11-12 March, bringing
together fifteen senior experts from a range
of backgrounds (legal, academic, military,
UN and NGOs) to examine the bodies of international
environmental, human rights and humanitarian
law governing the protection of the environment
during armed conflict.
These bodies of law
have grown exponentially over the last 20
years, but the linkages established between
the three have so far been timid and isolated
when it comes to the environment. The limited
number of cases that have been brought before
the judiciaries to sanction damages to the
environment during hostilities can be seen
as evidence of the weakness of the existing
legal framework and current system of protection,
and of the resulting reluctance of States
and individuals to engage in such lawsuits.
The objective of the
meeting is to identify the gaps and weaknesses
within the existing legal framework and
propose an action plan of steps that need
to be taken to enhance implementation, enforcement,
and eventually reach a higher level of protection
for the environment during armed conflicts.
Resources
The new UNEP report
From Conflict to Peacebuilding: the Role
of Natural Resources and the Environment
is available online at: http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/pcdmb_policy_01.pdf
For UNEP's research
on timber and on drought risks in Darfur,
see:
Destitution, distortion
and deforestation: The impact of conflict
on the timber and woodfuel trade in Darfur,
available online at: http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/darfur_timber.pdf
The case for drought
preparedness: Report of the UNEP mission
to review water resource management at IDP
camps and host communities in Darfur during
February & March 2008, available online
at: http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/darfur_drought.pdf
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson
Silja Halle, Communications Advisor, Post-Conflict
and Disaster Management Branch
