Environmental Dimensions of Resilient and Peaceful Societies
Publisher: UNEP
Date: 2015
Topics: Governance
At least 40 percent of all violent conflicts in the last 60 years have been linked to natural resources. Climate change and increasing natural disasters are expected to increase the risk of such conflicts by degrading the available resource base. Sound stewardship of the resources, including access to information, inclusive decision-making, equitable benefit sharing, and rule of law are essential to mitigate these risks and help create resilient and peaceful societies.
Environmental factors, while rarely the sole cause of violent conflict, can help spark violence and contribute to renewed unrest if not properly managed. The global value of world exports in natural resources was in 2008 US$ 3.7 trillion, around one fifth of global merchandise trade is in natural resources. Despite the promising revenues, low-income economies largely dependent on natural resources are ten times more likely than other developing countries to experience civil war and significantly slower economic growth than similar countries without major natural resources. Nearly half of the world’s population is directly dependent on renewable natural resources for its livelihood although the value of natural capital is not accurately reflected in various statistics.
Conflicts over natural resources are universal - there are always conflicts between competing user groups and economic interests - in fact, such conflicts are a normal part of society. When institutions cannot absorb or mitigate environmental degradation, contamination, and other shocks and stresses, this can contribute to increased competition for scarce resources, destabilization and even violence. Increasing climate stresses and disaster risk may further compound local tensions and instability by eroding the resource base on which livelihoods depend or impacting its availability and distribution.