Recognizing the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict

Nov 6, 2023 | Wilson Center
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In 2001, the UN General Assembly declared November 6 the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict. One of the most useful distillations of the questions raised by the annual commemoration of the effects of conflict on the environment was a 2020 report authored by Ken Conca and Anita van Breda: Enduring Responses to War and Disaster: The Environmental Dimensions of Sustained Recovery.

As we have seen, the challenges that conflict poses to the environment via exploitation have not receded. In the 22 years since, both the impact of the exploitation of the environment during war—and the centrality of natural resources in establishing peace—have gained greater global recognition. And New Security Beat writers have written essays from across the globe that assess the problems and explore the pathways to resolution.