Government
War Crimes Against
Nature
Groups raise call to arms against war on the environment.
nvironmental destruction is both a cause and a consequence of wars, and
governments must do more to break that vicious circle, charge the authors of a special
essay on the World Future Society's online Global Strategies Forum.
War's impacts on the environment go well beyond the stereotypical
scorched battlefields, as the stakes of war have been raised by nuclear and chemical
weapons of mass destruction, point out Warwick A. Fox, Michael Renner, and Arthur H.
Westing in their essay, "Environmental Degradation as Both Consequence and Cause of
Armed Conflict." War and environmental destruction exacerbate each other--and their
impacts on human health and well-being.
During wars and other conflicts, governments' attention and resources
are often diverted away from any existing programs serving the environment or managing
natural resources. For example, after two decades of wars in Afghanistan, the wetlands on
its border with Iran are nearly dry, threatening wildlife such as migratory birds,
according to a report to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
While an end to the droughts plaguing the country could restore river
flows and replenish wetlands, long-term sustainability requires coordinated management of
dams and sewerage, as well as cooperation among neighboring localities sharing water
resources.
"The report makes it clear how conflict causes environmental
destruction," says Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani, Afghanistan's minister of irrigation, water
resources, and environment, who presented the report to UNEP in February. "Similarly,
continued environmental depletion and scarcity of natural resources will cause further
conflict. Effective environmental management is the key to breaking this vicious
cycle."
Discussions of "resource wars" have typically focused on oil
and its role in instigating conflict, but, as dramatically illustrated by the Kuwaiti oil
fires that punctuated the Gulf War a dozen years ago, the environment is also a major
victim of war. However, not only is it a collateral victim, but it is also increasingly a
target of militaristic aggression.
A movement is now growing in the international community to increase
protection of the environment during wars. A report issued by the Millennium Project in
September 2002 analyzed the potential for war-crimes prosecution of actions taken against
the environment. Currently, the bar is set very high for prosecutions of environmental
crimes during military actions, and prosecution would be "highly improbable,"
though not impossible, according to Millennium Project director Jerome C. Glenn.
That may change if UN Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan has his way.
"Modern warfare needs environmental rules, just as earlier wars highlighted the need
to regulate the impact of war on civilians and prisoners of war," Annan said at the
first observance of the International Day for Preventing Exploitation of the Environment
in War and Armed Conflict in November 2002.
In order for such international rules to be enforceable, there needs to
be domestic legislation, incorporated into military manuals, that is unambiguous and that
is consistently enforced, recommend Fox, Renner, and Westing.
Other advocates suggest that protecting the environment and natural
resources during peacetime could help prevent conflicts in the first place. Just as
environmental damage and exploitation catalyze violent conflict, so can cooperation in
protecting share resources catalyze peace, suggest political scientists Ken Conca and
Geoffrey D. Dabelko in their new book, Environmental Peacemaking. They
studied environmental protection initiatives in several regions, including the U.S.-Mexico
border, and concluded that these projects enhanced trust and helped establish a habit of
cooperation among decision makers that opened up the channels to peacemaking.
As Annan put it, "We must protect the environment in peacetime.
Respect for the environment is essential for our common future. It is the duty of every
person, every organization, and every government to help preserve the Earth's riches for
the generations who will succeed us. That is the only battle we should be fighting." --Cynthia
G. Wagner
Sources: "Environmental Degradation as Both Consequence
and Cause of Armed Conflict" by Warwick A. Fox, Michael Renner, and Arthur H.
Westing, Global Strategies Forum, World Future Society, www.wfs.org/fox.htm.
United Nations Environment Program, Web site www.unep.org. UNEP's Afghanistan Post-Conflict
Environmental Assessment report is available online at postconflict.unep.ch.
Millennium Project, American Council for the United Nations University, 4421 Garrison
Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20016. Web site www.acunu.org.
Environmental Peacemaking by Ken Conca and Geoffrey D. Dabelko. Woodrow Wilson
Center Press and Johns Hopkins University Press. 2002. 264 pages. $35. Available from the
Futurist Bookshelf, www.wfs.org/bkcatalog.htm.
