The sixth UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) has adopted a consensus resolution that aims to reinvigorate UNEP’s work on the environmental dimensions of armed conflicts to make it more responsive to global environmental challenges. The resolution, which was proposed by Ukraine, and which was greatly informed by its recent experience, also urged states to abide by the legal framework, and drew attention to its most recent addition – the Principles on the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts (PERAC Principles).
The backdrop of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza meant that interest in the environmental dimensions of conflict was high during UNEA-6. However, the tense geopolitical context and the need to reach consensus meant that at times there was considerable pressure to streamline and water down the text. In the end it came down to reaching agreement over a minor change to a single paragraph. Once the final text was agreed, the US joined as a co-sponsor of the resolution.
In the end, Russia blocked a reference to economic costs, while China objected to PERAC Principle 9. Several states argued that calculating economic costs is not part of UNEP’s conflicts mandate. The draft also sought to identify new pathways through which conflict-affected states could be supported. Multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) have been identified as holding potential in this respect. Those states broadly supportive of the aims of the resolution backed the idea but others argued that conflicts are outside the mandates of the MEAs. The negotiations saw much focus on the legal framework, but while references to the PERAC Principles survived, language supporting their application by states was watered down.
The consensus negotiation process demanded the merging and simplification of the text’s key operative paragraph that detailed them. What began as a clear request for a report on the barriers that UNEP has encountered while providing environmental assistance and recovery, with a view to informing improvements to it, ended up as a vague call for a report on its historical activities. Nonetheless, this hard-fought resolution is the assembly’s potentially most impactful text on the environmental dimensions of armed conflicts to date, but as ever, much will depend on how it will be implemented.
This blog piece was originally published by CEOBS and authored by Doug Weir. The original version can be found using the link here.