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Naturparadiese besonders kriegsgeplagt

Zerstörung der Ökologie im Krieg bedroht Zivilbevölkerung langfristig

Von Johannes Pernsteiner *

Fulda (pte/24.02.2009/06:05) - Fast alle Kriege der letzten Jahrzehnte haben in Regionen mit besonders großem natürlichem Artenreichtum stattgefunden. Zu diesem Schluss kommen Forscher der Naturschutzorganisation Conservation International http://www.conservation.org, die die Lage der Kriegszonen seit 1950 genauer analysierten. Demnach fanden neun von zehn der bewaffneten Konflikte mit mindestens 1.000 Todesopfern in den so genannten Biodiversitäts-Regionen statt, in denen die Hälfte aller weltweiten Pflanzenarten und zumindest 42 Prozent aller Wirbeltiere beheimatet sind. In den meisten dieser Regionen sind viele Pflanzen und Tiere vom Aussterben bedroht. Umgekehrt waren im selben Zeitraum zwei Drittel der insgesamt 34 Biodiversitäts-Regionen Kriegsschauplätze. Es sei neben der politischen und sozialen Verantwortung eine moralische Verpflichtung, die Ressourcen und Funktionsweise dieser Lebensräume zu schützen, schließen die Forscher aus ihrer Untersuchung.

In den Biodiversitäts-Regionen lebt ein Großteil der 1.2 Mrd. ärmsten Menschen, deren Überleben in besonderer Weise von Ressourcen und Angebot des natürlichen Ökosystems abhängt. Bricht ein Krieg aus, tritt der Umweltaspekt in den Hintergrund und Anstrengungen des Naturschutzes werden beendet. Die Zerstörung der natürlichen Ressourcen beraubt in den meisten Fällen die Zivilbevölkerung ihrer wichtigsten Lebens- und Nahrungsgrundlagen. Zudem sind Kriegsflüchtlinge häufig gezwungen, für ihr Überleben zu jagen, Feuerholz zu sammeln oder Lager zu errichten, was die lokalen Naturressourcen ebenfalls beeinträchtigt. Aus diesem Grund starben etwa in der Republik Kongo 95 Prozent der Flusspferde im Virunga National Park.

Dass sich militärische Planer keinen Deut um die Umwelt kümmern, hebt Knut Krusewitz, Umweltplaner und Autor zahlreicher Beiträge zum Thema militärische Umweltschäden, im pressetext-Interview hervor. "Im Irakkrieg etwa jagten die Kriegsführer C-Waffen-Anlagen in die Luft und verseuchten dadurch die geschützten Flussgebiete am Euphrat und Tigris. Das wird den jetzigen Besatzungssoldaten zum Problem, für die man überlegt, Trinkwasser aus den USA einfliegen zu lassen", so Krusewitz. Die Auswirkungen der Verschmutzung gingen dabei räumlich weit über die Kriegsgebiete hinaus. "Als die kuwaitischen Erdölquellen in Brand gesetzt wurden, ging eine Schadstoffwolke mehrmals um die Welt und wurde sogar noch auf den pazifischen Inseln nachgewiesen", betont der Umweltexperte aus Fulda.

Ähnlich wie Informationen über den Kriegsverlauf versuchen Kriegsmächte auch die Veröffentlichung der ökologischen Konsequenzen ihres Treibens zu steuern. "Die Ökologie ist bei Kriegen ein Natur- und Wissenschaftsgebiet, auf dem gelogen wird, dass sich die Balken biegen", berichtet Krusewitz. Ein deutliches Beispiel dafür sei der Vietnamkrieg. Das von der US-Armee mit Flugzeugen versprühte Entlaubungsmittel "Agent Orange" zerstörte die Wälder weiter Regionen des Landes und ließ aufgrund von Dioxin-Verunreinigungen viele Bewohner der ehemaligen Kriegsgebiete erkranken. "Studien bestätigen auch in der dritten Generation ein enorm hohes Krebsrisiko in der Bevölkerung", so Krusewitz. Dennoch weigere sich die USA bis heute strikt, Entschädigungen zu zahlen. "Da Vietnam aktuell vom sozialistischen Planwirtschaftssystem zur Marktwirtschaft übergeht und regen Außenhandel mit den USA betreibt, sind die Entschädigungen kein Thema. Das Beharren darauf würde die weitere Integration des Landes in das kapitalistische Wirtschaftssystem verhindern", so Krusewitz.

Bloß ein einziger Fall ist dem Umweltforscher bekannt, in dem Kriegsmächte Verantwortung für ökologische Folgen ihres Handelns übernahmen. "Im Kosovo-Krieg verschoss die US-Armee Munition mit radioaktiver Alpha-Strahlung, deren Halbwertszeit über vier Mrd. Jahre beträgt. Als sich die Besetzung durch NATO-Soldaten abzeichnete, startete ein großes UNO-Programm mit westlicher Unterstützung, das die verstrahlten Orte aufspürte und einen Großteil der verstrahlten Erde abtrug." Motiv dieser Maßnahme sei jedoch der Schutz der Besatzungssoldaten gewesen, nicht derjenige der Bevölkerung, gibt Krusewitz zu bedenken.

Auch ein gestern, Montag (23. Feb.), veröffentlichter Bericht der Entwicklungsprogramms der Vereinten Nationen UNEP http://www.unep.org/publications [siehe unten im Kasten] thematisiert die Rolle der Ökologie im Kriegsfall. Langzeitige Konflikte zwischen Staaten flammen demnach besonders dann wieder auf, wenn der Anlass des Streits fehlende natürliche Ressourcen sind oder wenn die Ökologie bei Friedensverhandlungen ausgeklammert bleibt. Der Aspekt der Naturressourcen solle in allen Phasen des Konflikts und der Friedensbemühungen einbezogen werden, so die Forderung des Berichts, wie auch verstärktes Umweltmanagement und die Organisation von natürlicher Ressourcen eine Investition zur Vorbeugung von Konflikten darstelle. Umweltschutz sei eine neue Chance für Friedensprozesse, so die Schlussfolgerung der Studie.

* Quelle: pressetext.deutschland, Redakteur: Johannes Pernsteiner
(email: pernsteiner@pressetext.com); Website: www.pressetext.de
Mit freundlicher Genehmigung durch den Autor.

From conflict to peacebuilding

The role of natural resources and the environment

First published in February 2009 by the United Nations Environment Programme-UNEP

Foreword

International peace and security underpin the United Nations Charter, which commits the international community "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war." The critical role of peace and security for sustainable development is further emphasized in the Rio Declaration, which calls for States to "respect international law providing protection for the environment in times of armed conflict and cooperate in its further development, as necessary." It also explicitly recognizes that peace, development and environmental protection are "interdependent and indivisible." Finally, the UN General Assembly has recently linked armed conflict and natural resources in several important resolutions, specifically identifying the exploitation of natural resources as a source of conflict and a threat to durable peace and sustainable development in Africa, for example.

Linking the terms "environment" and "conflict" remains contentious in today's international political arena. While most acknowledge that numerous conflicts have been fuelled by natural resources, UN Member States are divided on how to address the linkages. Some States express concern about protecting their sovereign right to use their resources according to their national interest. Many others consider environmental degradation and the illegal exploitation of natural resources as issues of international concern requiring a coordinated global approach. In their view, the potential impacts of climate change on the availability of natural resources, coupled with rising consumer demand and the free flow of international investment capital, only sharpen the need for collective action.

This report discusses the key linkages between environment, conflict and peacebuilding, and provides recommendations on how these can be addressed more effectively by the international community. It has been developed in the context of UNEP's mandate to "keep under review the world environmental situation in order to ensure that emerging environmental problems of wide international significance receive appropriate and adequate consideration by governments."

UNEP has been helping Member States to assess the environmental impacts of conflicts and disasters since 1999. This report extends this work by investigating not only how the environment and natural resources are damaged by conflict, but also how they contribute to both conflict and peacebuilding. Developed by UNEP and its Expert Advisory Group on Environment, Conflict and Peacebuilding as part of UNEP's technical support to the UN Peacebuilding Commission, it has been financially supported by the Government of Finland.

In supporting the implementation of the recommendations contained in this report, UNEP seeks to partner with UN agencies, Member States, and other stakeholders to address the environmental needs of war-torn societies, and to provide the technical expertise necessary to integrate those needs into peacebuilding interventions and conflict prevention. This report advocates the value of sound environmental and natural resource management as key inputs to achieve these aims.

We invite the international community to engage with us to transform environmental challenges into opportunities, and hope this report will contribute to advancing the objectives of the UN Charter on peace and security, as well as the mandate of the UN Peacebuilding Commission in facilitating the transition from conflict to lasting peace and sustainable development.

Achim Steiner
United Nations Under-Secretary-General
Executive Director
United Nations Environment Programme
Jane Holl Lute
United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support

Executive summary

Since 1990 at least eighteen violent conflicts have been fuelled by the exploitation of natural resources. In fact, recent research suggests that over the last sixty years at least forty percent of all intrastate conflicts have a link to natural resources. Civil wars such as those in Liberia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo have centred on "high-value" resources like timber, diamonds, gold, minerals and oil. Other conflicts, including those in Darfur and the Middle East, have involved control of scarce resources such as fertile land and water.

As the global population continues to rise, and the demand for resources continues to grow, there is significant potential for conflicts over natural resources to intensify in the coming decades. In addition, the potential consequences of climate change for water availability, food security, prevalence of disease, coastal boundaries, and population distribution may aggravate existing tensions and generate new conflicts.

Environmental factors are rarely, if ever, the sole cause of violent conflict. Ethnicity, adverse economic conditions, low levels of international trade and conflict in neighbouring countries are all significant drivers of violence. However, the exploitation of natural resources and related environmental stresses can be implicated in all phases of the conflict cycle, from contributing to the outbreak and perpetuation of violence to undermining prospects for peace. In addition, the environment can itself fall victim to conflict, as direct and indirect environmental damage, coupled with the collapse of institutions, can lead to environmental risks that threaten people's health, livelihoods and security.

Because the way that natural resources and the environment are governed has a determining influence on peace and security, these issues can also contribute to a relapse into conflict if they are not properly managed in post-conflict situations. Indeed, preliminary findings from a retrospective analysis of intrastate conflicts over the past sixty years indicate that conflicts associated with natural resources are twice as likely to relapse into conflict in the first five years. Nevertheless, fewer than a quarter of peace negotiations aiming to resolve conflicts linked to natural resources have addressed resource management mechanisms.

The recognition that environmental issues can contribute to violent conflict underscores their potential significance as pathways for cooperation, transformation and the consolidation of peace in war-torn societies. Natural resources and the environment can contribute to peacebuilding through economic development and the generation of employment, while cooperation over the management of shared natural resources provides new opportunities for peacebuilding. These factors, however, must be taken into consideration from the outset. Indeed, deferred action or poor choices made early on are easily "locked in," establishing unsustainable trajectories of recovery that can undermine the fragile foundations of peace.

Integrating environment and natural resources into peacebuilding is no longer an option -- it is a security imperative. The establishment of the UN Peacebuilding Commission provides an important chance to address environmental risks and capitalize on potential opportunities in a more consistent and coherent way.

In this context, UNEP recommends that the UN Peacebuilding Commission and the wider international community consider the following key recommendations for integrating environment and natural resource issues into peacebuilding interventions and conflict prevention:

Further develop UN capacities for early warning and early action: The UN system needs to strengthen its capacity to deliver early warning and early action in countries that are vulnerable to conflicts over natural resources and environmental issues. At the same time, the effective governance of natural resources and the environment should be viewed as an investment in conflict prevention.
Improve oversight and protection of natural resources during conflicts: The international community needs to increase oversight of "high-value" resources in international trade in order to minimize the potential for these resources to finance conflict. International sanctions should be the primary instrument dedicated to stopping the trade in conflict resources and the UN should require Member States to act against sanctions violators. At the same time, new legal instruments are required to protect natural resources and environmental services during violent conflict.
Address natural resources and the environment as part of the peacemaking and peacekeeping process: During peace mediation processes, wealth-sharing is one of the fundamental issues that can "make or break" a peace agreement. In most cases, this includes the sharing of natural resources, including minerals, timber, land and water. It is therefore critical that parties to a peace mediation process are given sufficient technical information and training to make informed decisions on the sustainable use of natural resources. Subsequent peacekeeping operations need to be aligned with national efforts to improve natural resource and environmental governance.
Include natural resources and environmental issues into integrated peacebuilding strategies: The UN often undertakes post-conflict operations with little or no prior knowledge of what natural resources exist in the affected country, or of what role they may have played in fuelling conflict. In many cases it is years into an intervention before the management of natural resources receives sufficient attention. A failure to respond to the environmental and natural resource needs of the population can complicate the task of fostering peace and even contribute to conflict relapse.
Carefully harness natural resources for economic recovery: Natural resources can only help strengthen the post-war economy and contribute to economic recovery if they are managed well. The international community should be prepared to help national authorities manage the extraction process and revenues in ways that do not increase risk of further conflict, or are unsustainable in the longer term. This must go hand in hand with ensuring accountability, transparency, and environmental sustainability in their management.
Capitalize on the potential for environmental cooperation to contribute to peacebuilding: Every state needs to use and protect vital natural resources such as forests, water, fertile land, energy and biodiversity. Environmental issues can thus serve as an effective platform or catalyst for enhancing dialogue, building confidence, exploiting shared interests and broadening cooperation between divided groups, as well as between states.

(p. 5)

Conclusions and policy recommendations

Three main conclusions can be drawn from the arguments and cases presented in this report:

a) Natural resources and the environment can be implicated in all phases of the conflict cycle, contributing to the outbreak and perpetuation of violence and undermining prospects for peace. In post-conflict countries, they can also contribute to conflict relapse if they are not properly managed from the outset. The way that natural resources and the environment are managed has a determining influence on peace and security.
b) The environment can itself fall victim to conflict, as direct and indirect environmental damage, coupled with the collapse of institutions, can lead to environmental risks that threaten health, livelihoods and security. These risks should be addressed as a part of the recovery process.
c) Natural resources and the environment can contribute to peacebuilding through economic development, employment generation and sustainable livelihoods. Cooperation over the management of natural resources and the environment provides new opportunities for peacebuilding that should also be pursued.

As a result, UNEP's Expert Advisory Group on Environment, Conflict and Peacebuilding recommends that the UN Peacebuilding Commission and the wider international community consider the following six areas for priority action:

1. Further develop UN capacities for early warning and early action

The UN system needs to strengthen its capacity to deliver early warning and early action in countries that are vulnerable to conflicts over natural resources and environmental issues. At the same time, the effective governance of natural resources and the environment should be viewed as an investment in conflict prevention within the development process itself:

Prioritize capacity-building for dispute resolution, environmental governance and land administration in states that are vulnerable to conflicts over natural resources and the environment.
Include environmental and natural resource issues in international and regional conflict early warning systems and develop expertise for preventive action.
Build international capacity to conduct mediation between conflicting parties where tensions over resources are rising.
Support research on how the impacts of climate change could increase vulnerability to conflict and how early warning and adaptation projects could address this issue.
Ensure that all development planning processes are conflict-sensitive and consider potential risks from the mismanagement of natural resources and the environment.

2. Improve oversight and protection of natural resources during conflicts

The international community needs to increase oversight of "high-value" resources in international trade in order to minimize the potential for these resources to finance conflict. International sanctions should be the primary instrument dedicated to stopping the trade in conflict resources and the Security Council should require Member States to act against sanctions violators. At the same time, new legal instruments are required to protect natural resources and environmental services during violent conflict:

Develop international certification mechanisms to ensure that natural resources can be tracked more effectively.
A high-level report by the Secretary-General examining the UN's experience in addressing the role of natural resources in conflict and peacebuilding, recommending ways in which existing UN approaches may be strengthened, and clarifying what constitutes a "conflict resource," would help improve coordination, increase oversight and provide a basis for the identification of cases that require action by the Security Council.
Make secondary sanctions systematic and uniform, so that individuals and companies violating sanctions are subject to criminal prosecution, no matter which state they are based in.
Support and strengthen current processes to develop new international legal instruments against targeting natural resources and ecosystems during conflicts.

3. Address natural resources and the environment as part of the peacemaking and peacekeeping process

During peace mediation processes, wealth-sharing is one of the fundamental issues that can "make or break" a peace agreement. In most cases, this includes the sharing of natural resources, including minerals, timber, land and water. It is therefore critical that parties to a peace mediation process are given sufficient technical information and training to make informed decisions on the distribution and sustainable use of natural resources. Subsequent peacekeeping operations need to be aligned with national efforts to improve natural resource and environmental governance:

Strengthen UN capacity to provide technical information on the status of natural resources and the environment, and to make recommendations for sustainable use during mediation processes.
Ensure that there are processes in place within peace agreements for the transparent, equitable and legitimate definition and realization of property rights and resource revenues and tenure.
Mandate UN peacekeeping operations, where appropriate, to monitor natural resource extraction and management, or certain environmental issues that have the potential to re-ignite conflict or finance rebel groups. In particular, the UN should make efforts, in conjunction with regional organizations and states, to prohibit smuggled resources from being exported from sanctioned countries and to prevent the trade in conflict resources.

4. Integrate natural resource and environmental issues into post-conflict planning

The UN often undertakes post-conflict operations with little or no prior knowledge of what natural resources exist in the affected country, or of what role they may have played in fuelling conflict. In many cases it is years into an intervention before the management of natural resources receives sufficient attention. A failure to respond to the environmental and natural resource needs of the population, including the gender dimension of resource use, can complicate the task of fostering peace and even contribute to conflict relapse:

Ensure that a conflict analysis is conducted at the operational planning stage of what natural resources exist in the country, the role that they may have played in fuelling conflict, and the potential risks they pose to the peace process if they are mismanaged or poorly governed. This conflict analysis should directly inform the wider post-conflict needs assessment process.
Systematically conduct post-conflict environmental assessments that identify environmental risks to human health, livelihoods and security and prioritize needs in the short and medium term.
Consider environmental sustainability when planning relief and recovery operations, so as to make sure that the projects are not contributing to the risk of future conflict.
Integrated peacebuilding strategies should include a selection of environmental and natural resource indicators to monitor the peacebuilding trajectory and any potential destabilizing trends.

5. Carefully harness natural resources for economic recovery

Natural resources can only help strengthen the postwar economy and contribute to economic recovery if they are managed well. The international community should be prepared to help national authorities manage the extraction process and revenues in ways that do not increase risk of further conflict, or are unsustainable in the longer term. This must go hand in hand with ensuring accountability, transparency and environmental sustainability in their management:

Prioritze weaknesses in natural resource and environmental governance structures for capacitybuilding when these may contribute to a conflict relapse or human insecurity.
UN bodies should help assess the legitimacy and fairness of existing concession agreements, as inequitable contracts may themselves become a source of conflict. UN agencies or international financial institutions could also provide technical assistance to public officials to help negotiate equitable concessions and contracts on natural resources.
International organizations should promote the transparent management of revenues from natural resource extraction. Where applicable, efforts should be made from an early stage to bring the country into compliance with international standards of revenue transparency and trade controls such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, the Kimberley Process, and the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade initiative.
At the national level, independent monitoring bodies should be established to carry out regular inspections of logging, mining and other forms of resource extraction.
Gather lessons learned on best and worst practices in terms of natural resource and environmental management in conflict-affected countries, with a view to developing a database, guidance materials and training for UN Country Teams and peacekeeping operations.
More systematic efforts are needed by the UN and national governments to engage the private sector in the development of policies on natural resources and the environment.

6. Capitalize on the potential for environmental cooperation to contribute to peacebuilding

Every state needs to both use and protect vital natural resources such as forests, water, fertile land, energy and biodiversity. Environmental issues can thus serve as an effective platform or catalyst for enhancing dialogue, building confidence, exploiting shared interests and broadening cooperation between divided groups, as well as between states:

At the outset of peacebuilding processes, identify locations or potential "hotspots" where natural resources may create tension between groups, as well as opportunities for environmental cooperation to complement and reinforce peacebuilding efforts.
Conversely, make dialogue and confidence-building between divided communities an integral part of environmental projects, so that peacebuilding opportunities are not missed.
Include environmental rights in national constitutional processes as a potential connecting line between diverging interests.
Build on existing community-based systems and traditions of natural resource management as potential sources for post-conflict peacebuilding, while working to ensure that they are broadly inclusive of different social groups and interests.

(p. 28-29)

Source: http://www.unep.org/pdf/pcdmb_policy_01.pdf

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