The Environmental Impact of War and Armed Conflict

By Miguel Lopes, November 6, 2023

Armed conflicts can … damage both the environment and the communities that depend on its natural resources, with direct and indirect environmental impacts and the collapse of institutions leading to environmental risks that can impact on people's health, livelihoods and security.

The International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict is celebrated annually on November 6th. The goal of this day is to raise awareness of the damage that the environment suffers in contexts of war. This translates into water pollution, decimated forests, devastated soil or animals killed for military purposes. To address this, the day also aims to highlight the importance of adopting environmental protection measures, as an essential part of conflict prevention and peacekeeping strategies.

On 5 November 2001, the United Nations General Assembly declared 6 November as the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict through Resolution A/RES/56/4. Secretary-General António Guterres stresses that in order to achieve the global goals by 2030, bold and urgent action is needed to reduce the risks that environmental degradation and climate change pose to the conflict. 

The impact of war on ecosystems and natural resources is often overlooked when compared to the social and human harms of armed conflict. However, this environmental impact has repercussions that extend beyond the boundaries of national territories and current generations, as reinforced by the UN in the resolution that gave rise to this official date. Armed conflicts can also damage both the environment and the communities that depend on its natural resources, with direct and indirect environmental impacts and the collapse of institutions leading to environmental risks that can impact on people's health, livelihoods and security. Such consequences can then weaken peacebuilding in the post-conflict period.

On 27 May 2016, the United Nations Environment Assembly adopted resolution UNEP/EA.2/Res.15, which recognized the role of healthy ecosystems and sustainably managed resources in reducing the risk of armed conflict, and reaffirmed its strong commitment to the full implementation of the Sustainable Development Goal.

Nowadays we see this type of concern during the war in Ukraine. The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and caused widespread environmental damage. A preliminary evaluation of the conflict in Ukraine undertaken last year by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and partners points to a toxic legacy for generations to come.

According to UNEP, the conflict has seen damage across many regions of the country, with incidents at nuclear power plants and facilities, energy infrastructure, including oil storage tankers, oil refineries, drilling platforms and gas facilities and distribution pipelines, mines and industrial sites and agro-processing facilities. The result has been multiple air pollution incidents and potentially serious contamination of ground and surface waters. Water infrastructure, including pumping stations, purification plants and sewage facilities, has also suffered significant damage.

There are also reports of the targeting of several large livestock farms, where livestock carcasses pose a further public health risk. Hazardous substances are released from explosions in agro-industrial storage facilities, including fertilizer and nitric acid plants. 

In many urban areas, the clean-up of destroyed housing will bring its own challenges, with debris likely to be mixed with hazardous materials. Satellite imagery has also shown a significant increase of fires in various nature reserves and protected areas, as well as forested areas. Furthermore, pollution from the extensive use of weapons in populated areas and the large volumes of military waste, including destroyed military vehicles, creates a major clean-up challenge.

One of the most devastating episodes was the destruction of the Kakhovka dam on 6 June 2023. The dam’s destruction has washed away vegetation, eroded river banks and contaminated drinking water sources with 150 tons of heavy fuel oil, in addition to polluted sediment and human and animal remains. The loss of the dam also threatens the water available to cool the reactors of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Ukrainian officials have estimated overall damage resulting from the dam’s destruction will total more than 1.275 billion USD.

Armed conflicts lead, directly and indirectly, to environmental degradation, both in the moments leading up to the fighting, when troops and bases are deployed, and during the course of the war, with environmental pollution, the felling of forests, the poisoning of soils and the devastation of various animal species. It should also not be forgotten that the very exploitation and extraction of natural resources is often at the heart of various clashes.

War, therefore, represents a threat to the conservation of biodiversity and the balance of ecosystems. As a result, it ends up distancing fragile countries from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals set out in the 2030 Agenda, which are so important for establishing the desired sustainability on the global stage.

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