Environmental Security Development2 Clearly Linked Security with Are Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery

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Fourth UNEP Global Training Programme on Environmental Law and Policy Fourth UNEP Global Training Programme on Environmental Law and Policy

The World Commission on Environment and The main sectors of employment on the Philippines neighbouring Honduras, are possible factors of future Environmental Security Development2 clearly linked security with are agriculture, forestry and fishery. The natural instability. environment in its 1987 Brundtland Report: resources have been widely depleted through “Humankind faces two great threats. The first is that deforestation, soil erosion, watershed abuse, over- * Andree Kirchner of a nuclear exchange. Let us hope that it remains a fishing and coral reef destruction. An ever-growing Water in the Middle East diminishing prospect for the future. The second is that population shares the decreased natural resources. of environmental ruin world-wide and far from being In the 1950s there was a comprehensive plan for the a prospect for the future, it is a fact right now.“ Anti-government rebels, e.g. the New People’s co-operative use of the Jordan River waters (the Introduction Following this inter-linkage the General Assembly Army, take advantage of these declining conditions. Johnston Plan), which failed because of mistrust

officially introduced the concept of security and They control a large part of the territory. among the four bordering states (Israel, Jordan, The relationship between environment and security nd 3 environment at its 42 Session. Governmental campaigns against the rebels often do Lebanon and Syria). Since then each state has tended has been under consideration since the 1980s mainly not reflect the minds of the rural communities to follow its own water policies. by two groups: (1) the environmental policy In recent years environmental security has been disenchanted with the degradation of the community, addressing the security implications of understood extensively, including human, physical, environmental basis of their livelihood. The result is a The militarisation of water conflicts is not of recent environmental change and security, and (2) the social and economic well being, giving the scope lack of security and may even result in open conflict. nature. On numerous occasions, Israel and its security community, looking at new definitions of 4 hardly any limitation for interpretations. neighbouring Arab states have feuded over access to national security, particularly in the post-Cold War At present, however, there is no consensus on a clear Jordan River waters. Former Israeli Minister for era. definition of environmental security. Agriculture Rafael Eitan stated in November 1990 It was soon acknowledged that global impacts of for Deforestation in Ethiopia and Somalia that Israel must never relinquish the West Bank example environmental change, the depletion of the For the purpose of this paper, the scope of the issue In the 1960s, as a result of deforestation and because a loss of its water supplies would “threaten ozone layer and transboundary pollution, have clear is limited on how environmental impacts may affect favoured by improper agricultural practices and the Jewish State.“ Many military moves in that region security implications. This in turn made the military 5 conflicts, rather than security as such. In this respect, population increase, there was a widespread soil were at least motivated by water supply, e.g. 1967 authorities to re-evaluate the security dimension of environmental security has basically two dimensions: erosion in Ethiopia’s Highlands. The result was occupation of West Bank, the Golan Heights and the environmental issues. environmental stress may be a cause as well as a decline of farmland, inefficiency of agriculture, food Gaza Strip.

result of a conflict. shortages and exploding prices leading to urban riots. Security was traditionally seen as a synonym for The neighbouring Somalia had to face similar national security with two main objectives: (1) to problems. preserve the territorial integrity of the State and (b) to Action by the International Community maintain the preferred form of government, by Environmental Stress as Cause of a Most of Somalia’s rivers rise in Ethiopia, and Somalis Since the UN General Assembly introduced political and military means. Conflict worried that Ethiopian migrants might divert water for 7 environmental security in the mid -late 1980s, many irrigation. In 1977 the two countries went to war until When political scientists took up the environmental Environmental stress, i.e. global impacts of for institutions dealt with the issue, e.g. UNEP, OSCE 1979. Supported by the late superpowers with and NATO. aspect of security, they defined environment impacts example environmental change, the depletion of the supply of arms, the region could not yet recover as being part of the security issue. This approach ozone layer and transboundary pollution, may lead to properly. attempted to re-define the concept of national a conflict. security completely. In the early 1980s the United Nations Environment Independent Commission on Security and History has shown a large variety of examples of Programme conflicts caused by global impacts with environmental Disarmament Issues (ICSDI) developed and 6 Deforestation in the Caribbean introduced the concept of common security, giving roots. The following brief description of four cases UNEP first dealt with environmental security in the the idea of national security a broader perspective. from South America/Caribbean, Africa and Asia are The problem of deforestation as described above is joint PRIO/UNEP Programme on Military Activities Additional to the traditional security aspects, other examples of a clear relationship between environment quite similar in Haiti. Already in 1978 the President’s and the Human Environment in the 1980s. In 1988 an non-traditional threats to security, e.g. economic and security: Council on Environmental Quality warned that in Haiti ad hoc experts’ meeting on expanded concept of 8 decline, social and political instability, ethnic rivalries deforestation was almost complete and that resulting international security was organised by UNEP, and territorial dispute, international terrorism, money firewood shortages and cultivation of marginal soil followed by the international symposium ‘Towards a laundering and drug trafficking as well as Deforestation on the Philippines would promote social disruption and instability. comprehensive system of international security’ which 9 environmental stress, have been incorporated.1 The depletion of forests, soils and water supplies in El was co-sponsored by UNEP. The main emphasis of Salvador and a population density of six times that of this framework was to explore the interrelationship 1 2

Fourth UNEP Global Training Programme on Environmental Law and Policy Fourth UNEP Global Training Programme on Environmental Law and Policy

between environmental security and comprehensive Organization for Security and Co- comprehensive threats assessment, a risk analysis, as international security. As a follow-up the well as a prioritisation of risks to international security operation in Europe * PRIO/UNEP Programme published a booklet on is needed. Andree Kirchner is a doctoral candidate at the Law of the ‘Environmental Security - A Report Contributing to In 1999 the Organization for Security and Co- Sea and Maritime Law Institute in Hamburg, and a legal the Concept of Comprehensive International Following these needs, countries could mandate adviser to the Institute of Applied Environmental Protection 10 operation in Europe (OSCE) addressed ‘Security Security’. UNEP to co-operate with regional military and Safety in Maritime Traffic (GAUSS) in Bremen. The Aspects in the Field of the Environment’ at its views expressed are personal opinions of the author and do 12 Seventh Meeting of the Economic Forum. organisations (e.g. NATO, OSCE, and WEU) and not necessarily represent statements of the above institutes. The General Assembly Resolution 42/186 mandated Moreover, the OSCE intends to organise an with national military forces in general. An exchange He is an intern at the Division on Environmental Policy UNEP to deal with the issue; Paragraph 86 of the additional workshop on ‘Policy Approaches to of views on an informal basis, e.g. by sending experts Development and Law (DEPDL) of the United Nations Resolution reads: “One of the roles of the United 13 to such regional military organisations as well as by Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi. Environment and Security in the OSCE Region’. Contact: Institute for Applied Environmental Protection and Nations Environment Programme is to promote inviting military forces to take environmental issues Safety in Maritime Traffic (GAUSS), Werderstrasse 73, 28199 environmentally sound development in harmony with into consideration to further define the scope of Bremen, Germany. Internet: www.gauss.org and E-mail: peace and security, and towards this end, issues of environmental security. This approach would allow to [email protected]. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation disarmament and security, in so far as they relate to use the political attentio n and resources spent on the 1 Cf. e.g. T.F. Homer-Dixon, On The Threshold: the environment, should continue to receive military sector in order to strengthen environmental The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and Environmental Changes as Causes of Acute Conflict in: appropriate attention.“ security related initiatives. its Committee on Challenges of Modern Society International Security, Vol. 16, No. 2 (fall 1991), pp. 76-116.

(CCMS) organised a workshop on ‘Environmental 2 The United Nations Task Force on Environment and The impacts of environmental damage can pose a Cf. GA Res. 38/161 (19 December 1983) ‘Process of Security in an International Context: Environment and preparation of the Environmental Perspective to the year Human Settlement addressed the issue in its 1998 14 threat to either global security or to regional security. Development Policy Responses’. The workshop 2000 and Beyond’. Report: “[...] Monitoring and assessment are closely At the regional level, security may be threatened as a recognised monitoring compliance as a crucial issue in 3 linked to early warning of possible environmental result of the unsustainable use of shared natural UN GA Res. 42/186 (11 December 1987) ‘Environmental environmental politics and stressed the need for emergencies through the prediction of extreme events resources, or because of transboundary pollution. In Perspective to the Year 2000 and Beyond’, Par. 82 et seqq. capacity building as a major part of a strategy to or unusual environmental conditions. This kind of such instances concerted preventive actions might be 4 combat environmental threats to security. For a comprehensive overview of research projects and warning is extremely valuable for environmental and appropriate and adequate. As solutions may come at different approaches, cf. NATO/CCMS, Environment and economic decision-makers; for example, advance a later stage, however, an inventory of potential Security in an International Context, Final Report (March At the Plenary Meeting of the NATO/CCMS in warning of drought conditions can enable farmers to environmental hot spots should be established. 1999). 1995 a pilot study on ‘Environment and Security in an plant drought-resistant crops. It may be possible to 15 Moreover monitoring and co-ordinating regional 5 International Context’ was launched. In March World Commission on Environment and Development, Our identify, on a long-term basis, potential ‘hot spots’ or environmental co-operation in areas of actual or 1999 the final report was published, summarising the Common Future, (Oxford: Oxford University Press 1987); areas that are likely to be subject to rates of change potential insecurity (hot spots), exchange of U.S. National Academy of Science, Policy Implications of relationship between environmental change and that exceed the limits of sustainability and thus pose information and even joint management could be Global Warming, (Washington D.C. 1991). security at the regional, international and global levels. threats to regional or global security. required. 6 The Pilot Study was co-chaired by the German For example: El Salvador (1969); The Sahel (1973, 1985, and At the global level, the environmental security can be Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature 1991); Ethiopia -Somalia (1977); Somalia (1990s); Haiti (1990s) Recommendation 10 strengthened by: (a) preventing or mitigating global and Rwanda (1994). Conservation and Nuclear Safety and the Department The Task Force recommends that UNEP and Habitat environmental degradation; (b) managing the global 7 of Defense (DoD) of the United States of America. Cf. e.g. UN Doc. A/40/553 (1986) ‘Concepts of Security‘; design and maintains the system of information, commons; (c) preventing and managing global risks; UN GA Res. 42/93 (7 December 1987) ‘Comprehensive monitoring and assessment so as to maximise its and (d) collecting and exchanging information on System of International Peace and Security‘; UN GA Res. ability to provide early warning of possible schemes of global environmental co-operation. 16 42/186 (11 December 1987) ‘Environmental Perspective to et seqq. environmental and human settlement emergencies. It Conclusion the Year 2000 and Beyond’, Par. 82 [Security and Environment]. further recommends that UNEP consider establishing To achieve environmental security, it requires support The security issues should, beside traditional political 8 a capability to identify potential environmental and action in the following areas: (a) education, training Nairobi (Kenya), 23-26 February 1988. environment-related conflicts and provide information and military aspects, also include environmental and exchange of information; (b) capacity building in issues. The significance of environmental security 9 and analysis to guide the development of preventive elaboration of national and international law. This Moscow (Russia), 28 November-1 December 1988. extends far beyond the environmental sector as such. measures, for example by the negotiation of joint would be best achieved through defining eco- 10 11 Environmental degradation, resource depletion and 17 Cf. PRIO/UNEP, Environmental Security - A Report actions. [...]“ geographical regions and international institutions. Contributing to the Concept of Comprehensive International natural disasters may have direct implications for the Security (December 1988). security of individual States, group of States and of 11 the international community as a whole. Hence, a UN Doc. A/53/463 (6 October 1998) ‘Report of the References Secretary-General on Environment and Human Settlements‘, 3 4

Fourth UNEP Global Training Programme on Environmental Law and Policy

Annex ‘Report of the United Nations Task Force on Environment and Human Settlements‘, Paragraph 41.

12 Prague (Czech Republic), 25-28 May 1999; cf. OSCE Doc. EF.GAL/3/99 ‘Summary’ (26 July 1999).

13 OSCE Doc. EF.DEL/87/99 ‘Rapporteur’s Report: Informal th Group “Environmental Security“ at the 7 OSCE Economic Forum on “Security Aspects in the Field of the Environment“, May 25-28, 1999 in Prague’ (28 May 1999).

14 Vienna (Austria), 22-23 March 1998.

15 Washington, D.C. (United States), 14 November 1995.

16 Note 11, pp. 18 et seq.

17 Note 11, p. 20.