Canada Must Clarify Its Policies on Conflict and the Environment

Jan 18, 2021 | Conflict and Environment Observatory
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Our study into Canada’s practice used the draft legal principles developed by the UN’s International Law Commission (ILC) on the Protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts (PERAC) as a benchmark for the assessment. This is only the second time that any state’s PERAC practice has been independently assessed using the draft principles. CEOBS undertook the first such review on the UK’s practice in 2019.

In reviewing Canada’s PERAC practice, we found considerable variation in how it approaches environmental protection at each phase of the cycle of conflicts. Unlike the UK, Canada has not made its positions on different draft principles clear during debates on the work of the ILC in the UN General Assembly’s Sixth Committee. Therefore a key finding of the report is that more clarity is needed from Canada on some of the ILC’s core principles.