Environmental Peacebuilding in the Middle East: The Bridge between Climate and Conflict

Jun 19, 2020 | Madelyn Evans
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In recent years, environmental challenges such as climate change, water scarcity, food security, and land degradation have increased competition over resources in the Levant. Environmentalist peacebuilders in the region, however, view these environmental issues as an opportunity for cooperation rather than conflict. The work of organizations such as EcoPeace Middle East highlights how environmental peacemaking can serve as a bridge between sustainable resource management and the peacebuilding process in the region. EcoPeace Middle East, a Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israeli environmental peacemaking organization, aims to protect their shared ecosystem through the promotion of cooperative, cross-border, and grass roots efforts. The trilateral organization incorporates resource management into local peacebuilding strategies to support security, humanitarian, and development objectives. EcoPeace is based on the principle of environmental peacebuilding, which views common dependency on natural resources and the need for a healthy environment as a facilitator for joint collaboration, and ultimately, a way to foster lasting and sustainable peace in conflict regions. According to Gidon Bromberg, the organization’s Israeli director, the environmental challenges in the Middle East offer the potential for mutually beneficial cooperation between Israel and its Arab neighbours, especially with regards to their shared water resources.