Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflicts – An Overview of the International Law Commission’s Ongoing Work
Publisher: Goettingen Journal of International Law
Author(s): Marie Jacobsson and Marja Lehto
Date: 2020
Topics: Assessment, Conflict Causes, Governance, Land, Weapons, Waste, and Pollution
In 2009, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Environmental Law Institute conducted the first comprehensive analyses of how the many different areas of international law could protect the environment during armed conflict. Their analysis was not confined to international humanitarian law. It also examined environmental law, human rights law and international criminal law. It presented twelve recommendations available in the publication: Protecting the Environment During Armed Conflict: An Inventory and Analysis of International Law. Among the recommendations in the 2009 UNEP report, the United Nations (UN) International Law Commission (ILC) was encouraged to “[...] examine the existing international law for protecting the environment during armed conflict and recommend how it can be clarified, codified and expanded”. Partly because the recommendation came from another UN body, the ILC assessed it and considered it suitable for being placed on its long-term programme of work in 2011. This is reflected in the syllabus of the topic that you can find in the 2011 ILC report.3 In 2013, the topic Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflicts was placed on the current programme of work, and Marie Jacobsson was appointed Special Rapporteur for the topic.