Over
Forty Per cent of Intrastate Conflicts Linked
to Natural Resources, Says UNEP Report
Nairobi, 20 February
2009 - Intrastate conflicts are likely to
drag on and escalate without a greater focus
on environment and natural resources in
the peacebuilding process, according to
a new report launched today by the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In
addition, conflicts with a link to natural
resources are twice as likely to relapse
within the first five years, as shown by
data collected by Uppsala University and
the International Peace Research Institute
in Oslo.
Even so, fewer that
25 per cent of peace agreements for resource-linked
conflicts have addressed those linkages,
leaving many post-conflict countries vulnerable
to conflict relapse.
A stronger role for environment
in post-conflict planning, along with greater
capacity for early warning, are required
to address environmental risks and capitalize
on opportunities, the report says. This
includes a more robust and comprehensive
inclusion of environmental issues in UN
peacebuilding activities, and a more careful
harnessing of natural resources for economic
recovery, essential services and sustainable
livelihoods.
A timely input from
UNEP as a fragile peace prevails in the
Middle East and conflict rages on in Darfur
and the Northern provinces of DR Congo,
the paper analyses the links between environment,
conflict and peacebuilding through fourteen
case studies, including Afghanistan, Darfur,
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
The often devastating
direct impacts of conflict on the environment
have been established by UNEP through some
15 post-conflict environmental assessments,
which have documented environmental damage
from armed conflict around the world since
1999. But the indirect consequences of post-conflict
coping mechanisms and the damage inflicted
to the capacity of government institutions
are also key problems.
Even after an initial
cessation of violence, natural resources
can contribute to conflict relapse in the
post-conflict period, and help finance a
continued insurgency. No less that 18 violent
conflicts have been fuelled by the exploitation
of natural resources since 11000.
As the global population
continues to rise, and demand for resources
continues to grow, there is significant
potential for conflicts over natural resources
to intensify in the coming decades. In addition,
new conflicts could be generated by the
possible consequences of climate change
for water availability and food security,
for example.
UNEP's new report, however,
suggests that there are also considerable
opportunities for environment to contribute
to peace consolidation rather than conflict.
Naming sustainable livelihoods,
dialogue and confidence-building as potential
keys to peacebuilding, the report also emphasizes
the important role that carefully managed
resources can play to jump-start economic
activity in post-conflict countries. By
providing a platform for cooperation, common
environmental needs and resource-related
goals can be a significant impetus for peace.
The report, which inaugurates
a new policy series by UNEP, was co-authored
by the Expert Advisory Group on Environment,
Conflict and Peacebuilding established by
UNEP in 2008, which is composed of senior
experts from academic institutions, non-governmental
organizations and think tanks that have
demonstrated leadership in environment and
conflict issues.
With continued support
from the Government of Finland, a collection
of 60 case studies on best practices of
natural resource management for peacebuilding
will be published by UNEP as a follow up
to this report in 2010. In addition, UNEP
is joining forces with the European Commission,
the UN Development Programme, the UN Department
of Political Affairs, the UN Department
of Economic and Social Affairs, the UN Peacebuilding
Support Office and UN-Habitat to develop
guidance and training to address resource-based
conflicts at the field level.
Notes To Editors:
About this report
This report, which inaugurates
a new policy series by UNEP on the environmental
dimensions of disasters and conflicts, aims
to summarize the latest knowledge and field
experience on the linkages between environment,
conflict and peacebuilding, and to demonstrate
the need for those linkages to be addressed
in a more coherent and systematic way by
the UN, Member States and other stakeholders.
As such, it is linked to a wider cooperation
on conflict and natural resource management
started between the European Commission
and the United Nations system in 2008, which
has resulted in a new project funded by
the European Commission under the Instrument
for Stability on "Strengthening Capacities
for Consensual and Sustainable Management
of Land and Natural Resources."
A joint product of UNEP
and the Expert Advisory Group, this paper
was co-authored by Richard Matthew of the
University of California, Irvine, Oli Brown
of the International Institute for Sustainable
Development (IISD) and David Jensen of UNEP's
Post-Conflict and Disaster Management Branch
(PCDMB). It was open for peer review to
all UN agencies, programmes and funds working
on conflict and peacebuilding, as well as
to the Member States and observers of the
Peacebuilding Commission. It was also released
as a consultation draft at four international
meetings during 2008, involving over 250
environment, security, peacebuilding and
development practitioners.
About UNEP's Expert
Advisory Group on Environment, Conflict
and Peacebuilding
To broaden UNEP's expertise
and analytical capacity, an Expert Advisory
Group on Environment, Conflict and Peacebuilding
was established in February 2008. Coordinated
by the International Institute for Sustainable
Development (IISD) the advisory group provides
independent expertise, develops tools and
policy inputs, and identifies best practices
in using natural resources and the environment
in ways that contribute to peacebuilding.
The group is composed of senior experts
from academic institutions, non-governmental
organizations and think tanks that have
demonstrated leadership in environment and
conflict issues.
About UNEP's Disaster
and Conflict Operations
The United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) conducts field-based environmental
assessments and strengthens national environmental
management capacity in countries affected
by conflicts and disasters. Using state-of-the-art
science and technology, UNEP deploys teams
of environmental experts to assess environmental
damage and determine risks for human health,
livelihoods and security.
Since 1999, UNEP has
operated in more than twenty-five countries
and published eighteen environmental assessment
reports. Based on this expertise, UNEP is
providing technical assistance to the UN
Peacebuilding Commission in assessing the
role of natural resources and the environment
in conflict and peacebuilding. The main
objective of this cooperation is to prevent
natural resources and environmental stress
from undermining the peacebuilding process
while at the same time using environment
as a platform for dialogue, cooperation
and confidence-building.
For more information on the UNEP Disasters
and Conflicts programme, see: http://www.unep.org/conflictsanddisasters/
Quotes on Environment,
Conflict and Peacebuilding:
"Throughout human
history, people and countries have fought
over natural resources. From livestock,
watering holes and fertile land, to trade
routes, fish stocks and spices, sugar, oil,
gold and other precious commodities, war
has too often been the means to secure possession
of scarce resources. Even today, the uninterrupted
supply of fuel and minerals is a key element
of geopolitical considerations. Things are
easier at times of plenty, when all can
share in the abundance, even if to different
degrees. But when resources are scarce -
whether energy, water or arable land - our
fragile ecosystems become strained, as do
the coping mechanisms of groups and individuals.
This can lead to a breakdown of established
codes of conduct, and even outright conflict."
Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General, 2007
"War-torn countries
rich in natural resources face particular
challenges in the stabilization and reconstruction
of their societies, despite the apparent
promise that natural resource wealth holds
for peacebuilding and development. Where
resource exploitation has driven war, or
served to impede peace, improving governance
capacity to control natural resources is
a critical element of peacebuilding."
Carolyn McAskie, Assistant
Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support,
2007
"We find ourselves
in the early steep climb of exponential
change: per capita consumption of materials
and energy; the demand for shrinking natural
resources, most critical of which is fresh
water; climate change with an impact on
virtually every aspect of human welfare;
the cost of war; and the destruction of
ecosystems and species, which have hitherto
sustained us scot free. These trends are
interlocked and mutually reinforcing. We
must study and address them as a unity.
Success would ensure a future for humanitarian
civilization. Failure is unthinkable."
Pulitzer Prize-winning
Ecologist E.O. Wilson, Harvard University,
2008
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson
Silja Halle, UNEP Communications Advisor
