Ranjan K Baruah

We see destruction of lives and properties when there are any conflicts or wars. Mostly soldiers fight in the wars but casualties are faced by all including civilians. We have seen how the world wars have been cruel to many. Though humanity has always counted its war casualties in terms of dead and wounded soldiers and civilians, destroyed cities and livelihoods, the environment has often remained the unpublicized victim of war.

Our environment has become the innocent bystander of wars and conflicts. We have seen how water wells have been polluted, crops torched, forests cut down, soils poisoned, and animals killed to gain military advantage. Not to talk about big wars but any conflict anywhere on earth has negatively impacted our environment.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has found that over the last 60 years, at least 40 percent of all internal conflicts have been linked to the exploitation of natural resources, whether high-value resources such as timber, diamonds, gold and oil, or scarce resources such as fertile land and water. Conflicts involving natural resources have also been found to be twice as likely to relapse.

The United Nations attaches great importance to ensuring that action on the environment is part of conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding strategies, because there can be no durable peace if the natural resources that sustain livelihoods and ecosystems are destroyed.

On 5 November 2001, the UN General Assembly declared 6 November of each year as the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict (A/RES/56/4).On 27 May 2016, the United Nations Environment Assembly adopted resolution UNEP/EA.2/Res.15, which recognized the role of healthy ecosystems and sustainably managed resources in reducing the risk of armed conflict, and reaffirmed its strong commitment to the full implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals listed in General Assembly resolution 70/1, entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

We are already worried about climate change and the way it is bringing more questions than answers in front of us. It is important for all of us to contribute positively for the environment and also rebuild the eco systems which have seen negative impacts due to conflicts. Let us take action to positively transform affected areas and together we can contribute to a sustainable future.

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