Jus Post Bellum Symposium: The Norm of Environmental Integrity in Post-Conflict Legal Regimes

May 7, 2014 | Cymie R. Payne
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The standard for illegality of harm to the environment is “too restricted, incomplete, inadequately integrated into military activities, and too rarely enforced.” Cymie R. Payne proposes “environmental integrity” as a better alternative. The environment is often seen as the background to the fighting and its human tragedies—we see little in the news about toxic effects of chemical weapons on soil and water, killing of wildlife (including gorillas and elephants), oil spills, destroyed landscapes or felled forests in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq or the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Yet environmental integrity is an essential part of breaking cycles of conflict, restoring societies and reestablishing the rule of law.