Armed conflicts and the environment
Attachments
Summary
Armed conflicts have disastrous consequences for the environment: destruction of infrastructure, pollution of water supplies, poisoning of soils and fields, destruction of crops and forests, and over-exploitation of natural resources. In this way, the environment can be used as a formidable weapon in military operations.
In order to preserve the environment, it is essential to prevent the emergence of a vicious circle linking armed conflict, environmental damage and poverty.
The governments of Council of Europe member and observer states are called on to comply scrupulously with the legal instruments on the relationship between armed conflicts and the environment and to organise awareness-raising programmes aimed in particular at those in charge of military planning.
Following an analysis of the consequences of armed conflicts on the environment in different parts of the world, the report puts forward a number of recommendations for improving the protection of the environment in times of war and encourages states to draft legislation relating more specifically to ecological crime.