Protecting the environment during armed conflict

This report seeks to identify gaps and weaknesses in the current international legal framework for protecting the environment during armed conflict. It aims to understand how natural resources and the environment can be better protected by examining the status of existing international law and making recommendations on concrete ways to strengthen this legal framework and its enforcement.

The authors present a number of findings, including: 

• Articles 35 and 55 of Additional Protocol I to the 1949 Geneva Conventions do not effectively protect the environment during armed conflict due to the stringent and imprecise threshold required to demonstrate damage
  
• The majority of international legal provisions protecting the environment during armed conflict were designed for international armed conflicts and do not necessarily apply to internal conflicts
  
• There is a lack of case law on protecting the environment during armed conflict because of the limited number of cases brought before the courts
  
• There is no permanent international mechanism to monitor legal infringements and address compensation claims for environmental damage sustained during international armed conflicts.

The paper offers a number of recommendations including:

• The ICRC Guidelines on the Protection of the Environment during Armed Conflict require updating and subsequent consideration by the UN General Assembly for adoption, as appropriate
  
• The International Law Commission should examine the existing international law for protecting the environment during armed conflict and recommend how it can be clarified, codified and expanded
  
• Countries that wish to protect the environment during armed conflict should consider reflecting the relevant provisions of international law in national legislation
  
• The international community should consider strengthening the role of the Permanent Court of Arbitration to address disputes related to environmental damage during armed conflict
  
•  The United Nations should define “conflict resources,” articulate triggers for sanctions and monitor their enforcement
  
• A new legal instrument is needed for place-based protection of critical natural resources and areas of ecological importance during armed conflicts.
  
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