Environmental Considerations in Peace Operations (Chapter in "Talking Tactics: Environmental Protection and Armed Conflicts")
Publisher: environmental SCIENTIST
Author(s): Annica Waleij
Date: 2020
Topics: Governance, Peace and Security Operations, Programming
Countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Peace operations, which include peace support, peace enforcement, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, are some of the tools the international community can use to help conflict-ridden nations towards peace. Since 1948, the United Nations (UN) has launched 71 peace operations, and the number of peace operations launched by non-UN actors including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union (EU) and the African Union has increased. Although UN Peacekeeping was created to address inter-state conflict, contemporary peace operations are increasingly used in intra-state conflicts and civil wars to reflect the fact that the nature of conflicts has also changed. So the mandates and range of duties of today’s peace operations are broader than ever: they maintain security, help with the disarmament of combatants and promote the return of the rule of law. One area that has come under increasing focus is environmental stewardship – the management and protection of the environment – because it is crucial that operations do not exacerbate environmental problems in an area. However, peace operations have historically left an undesired environmental legacy in often fragile and resource-scarce areas after the deployment of military and civilian personnel and major logistics operations.