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Internat Exploitati

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RSM GC Advisory Serv 5th floor, Great Soci 60, Sir Pherozeshah Me Mumbai, Maharashtra

ational Day for Preventing the ation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict

• Dr. Rambabu, CEO, RSM GC Advisors Pvt. Ltd

ade in my personal capacity and no opinion herein can be attributed to RSM GC Advisors)

Presentation on

ervices Pvt. Ltd.

• cial Building

Mehta Road, Fort tra 400001, India

Why it St ar t ed… .!!

The International Day for Preventing the Exp Armed Conflict recognizes the great imp environment is part of conflict prevention, p because there can be no durable peace if the and ecosystems

“ On 5 t h Novem ber 2 0 0 1 , t he Unit ed 6 t h Novem ber of each year as t he Int e Exploit at ion of t he Envir onm ent

xploitation of the Environment in War and importance of ensuring that action on the , peacekeeping and peace building strategies - the natural resources that sustain livelihoods ms are destroyed

d Nat ions Gener al Assem bly declar ed Int er nat ional Day for Pr event ing t he ent in War and Ar m ed Conflict ”

United Nations Resolution Snap shot

Envir onm ent - “ The unpub

Mankind has always counted its war casualties in terms

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dead and wounded soldiers and civilians, destroyed cities and livelihoods, the environment has often remained the unpublicized victim of war

How… ..?

unpublicized vict im of w ar ”

Water wells have been polluted crops torched forests were cut down/ Deforestation soils poisoned Animals killed to gain military advantage

Once t hick w it h follow ing confl per cent for est w it h 9 0 per cent nat ive t r opical for est s, nflict Sier r a Leone now has less t han 4 est cover " Phot o cr edit : UNEP

The United Nat has found that o

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all internal exploitation of resources such scarce resource

Let us renew our commitment to preventing th conflict, and to protecting the environme UN Secretary- Gen International Day for Preven Environment in War and Arme

ations Environment Programme (UNEP

• ver the last 60 years, at least 40 percen

al conflicts have been linked to th natural resources, whether high-valu as timber, diamonds, gold and oil, rces such as fertile land and wate

the exploitation of the environment in times of nment as a pillar of our work for peace. eneral Ban Ki- moon enting the Exploitation of the rmed Conflict, November 6 , 2 0 0 8

What The UN Millenni

The Millennium Project define environmental viability for life suppo

pr event ing or r epair ing m ilit envir onm ent  pr event ing or r esponding t o conflict s, and  pr ot ect ing t he envir onm ent value

e 12 million hectares of land are lost yearly due to degradation eady high vulnerability: nearly 70% of agricultural lands in ulation depends on agriculture. By 2020, water shortages migh ld decline 50% ; in the meantime, population is expected to incr acerbated by several food-importing countries, including China, ase farmland in poor countries in Africa, Latin America, Central urity

nium Pr oject Says… .!!

ines environmental security as pport, with three sub-elements:

ilit ar y dam age t o t he t o envir onm ent ally caused nt due t o it s inher ent m or al

ion and environmental causes. Desertification threatens regions the Arab region and 65% of those in Africa––where 60% of ight affect 250 million people in Africa, and agricultural produc ncrease from 967 million to 2 billion in 2050. The situation mig South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, that have started to b al Asia, and Southeast Asia in order to address their food and

Global Peace Index 2009

e: Economist Intelligence Unit (for the Institute for Eco Economics and Peace) Comparing world peace (see Figure) with potential s risks triggered by climate effects and environmental degra (e.g., global sea level rise, temp change, water scarcity, desertification) could help present vulnerabilities efficiently

UN Secur it y Council Deb

In 2007, the UN Security Council

security implications of climate members considered the issue governments.

 “The world has moved from a glo

Cold War, to what now should be War,” says Afelee Pita, Tuvalu Amba

cil Debat e… ..At Glance

held its first debate on the change, and many Council a top priority for their global threat once called the be considered the Warming bassador to the UN

 Middle Eastern countries are am

sustainable, and conflict has caused from Iraq to Lebanon and North Afr

 Many post-conflict health and envir

• ngoing, as are liability disputes. A

Council is requesting Israel to pa environmental damages caused du War (including, inter alia, the cost Israel bombed a large refinery).

 In

May 2009, UNEP conducted assessment in the Gaza Strip on th December 2008–J anuary 2009 in recommendations Least Envir onm ent ally Sust ainabl among the least environmentally sed massive damages to ecosystems Africa. vironmental impact assessments are A motion submitted to the Security pay Lebanon nearly $1 billion for during the 2006 Second Lebanon

• f UN cleanup of the oil spill after

ed a post-conflict environmental the impact of the Israel invasion of in order to make rehabilitation ble Count r ies

Ar t icles 3 5 and 5 5 of Addit i 1 9 4 9 Geneva Convent io pr ot ect t he envir onm ent due t o t he st r ingent a r equir ed t o dem onst r at e da UNEP and Environmental L ddit ional Pr ot ocol I t o t he t ions do not effect ively ent dur ing ar m ed conflict and im pr ecise t hr eshold dam age: l Law Institute (ELI) Findings… … ..

rovisions in humanitarian law that regulate rotect civilian property and objects provide in est r ict ions on t he m eans of w ar far e (in p w ar far e (such as m ilit ar y t act ics) pr ovide t hough new t echnologies, such as t he use of d cept by t he gener al pr inciples of t he law

• per t y and object s, including indust r ial ins
• vide indir ect pr ot ect ion t o t he envir onm en

een effect ively im plem ent ed or enfor ced.

UNEP and Environmental Law

te the means and methods of warfare or indirect protection of the environment: par t icular w eapons) and t he m et hods of indir ect pr ot ect ion t o t he envir onm ent , deplet ed ur anium , ar e not yet addr essed – aw

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w ar . Pr ovisions t hat pr ot ect civilian nst allat ions and cult ur al/ nat ur al sit es, also ent . How ever , t hese pr ot ect ions have r ar ely

w Institute (ELI) Findings… … ..

UNEP and Environmental Law Ins

The majority of international legal provis during armed conflict were designed for inte not necessarily apply to internal conflicts: Given t hat m ost ar m ed conflict s t oday ar m uch of t he exist ing legal fr am ew or k does vacuum is a m ajor obst acle for pr event ing dam age inflict ed dur ing int er nal conflict s. m echanism s t o pr event t he loot ing of nat ur

• r

t o r est r ict t he gr ant ing of concession legit im acy

• r

legal aut hor it y. In addi m echanism s t o pr event St at es or cor por at i w ar par t ies in causing envir onm ent al dam age

Institute (ELI) Findings… … ..

visions protecting the environment international armed conflicts and do ar e non- int er nat ional or civil w ar s,

• es not necessar ily apply. This legal

ing t he oft en ser ious envir onm ent al Ther e ar e also no inst it ut ionalized ur al r esour ces dur ing ar m ed conflict

• ns by

com bat ant s t hat m ay lack dit ion, t her e ar e no syst em at ic at ions fr om aiding and abet t ing civil age or loot ing nat ur al r esour ces

concer n r egar ding t he t ar get ing and

• nm ent dur ing w ar t im e fir st peaked dur ing

The use of t he t oxic her bicide Agent Or an t ing m assive defor est at ion and chem ical con ed, spar ked an int er nat ional out cr y leading

• new int er nat ional legal inst r um ent s. The

ficat ion Convent ion (ENMOD) w as adopt ed hibit t he use of envir onm ent al m odificat ion t

• f

w ar far e. Addit ional Pr ot ocol I t o vent ions, adopt ed in t he follow ing year , includ and 5 5 ) pr ohibit ing w ar far e t hat m ay cause t er m and sever e dam age t o t he nat ur al envir

P and Environmental Law Institute (ELI)

and use

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t he ng t he Viet Nam r ange, and t he cont am inat ion it t o t he cr eat ion Envir onm ent al ed in 1 9 7 6 t o t echniques as a t o t he Geneva uded t w o ar t icles cause “ w idespr ead, vir onm ent .”

LI) Findings… … ..

Agent Orange was sprayed over l areas during the Viet Nam War

: UNEP

Source: UNEP

Source: UNEP

Snap shot s

Snap shot s

Source: UN Millenn

Thank

"On t his Int er nat ional Day, w e st r ess t he cr envir onm ent in t im es of ar m ed conflict an nat ur al r esour ces dur ing post - conflict r eco im por t ant r ole t hat nat ur al r esour ces play r esilience of all m em ber s of societ y, especi sust ainable nat ur al r esour ce m anagem ent UN Secr et ar y- Gener al

Thank You

he cr it ical im por t ance of pr ot ect ing t he and r est or ing t he good gover nance of r econst r uct ion. We also r ecognize t he play in suppor t ing t he livelihoods and ecially w om en, and t he im plicat ions of ent for conflict pr event ion and peace." er al Ban Ki- m oon