Integrating Security into Sustainable Development to Build More Peaceful Societies

Nov 6, 2021 | Carl Bruch
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War is development in reverse. To be effective, sustainable development must address conflict and promote peace.

Twenty years ago, the United Nations General Assembly declared 6 November of each year the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict. The adoption of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16— “promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development…”—was important for initially integrating peace into a United Nations-wide policy framework.

Recognizing the linkages between sustainable development and peace does not mean that all things related to development become security matters.

Since the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, sustainable development has often been viewed as a three-legged stool comprising environmental, economic and social elements. SDG 16 presumed to add a fourth leg —peace— and Stockholm+50 provides an opportunity to expand on that initial framing.