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NewSecurityBeat

The blog of the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program
  • Ban Ki-moon: Natural Resources Should Be Part of Peacebuilding

    July 30, 2010 By Schuyler Null
    Natural resource management is a critical component of the peacebuilding process according to a new report from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The report, presented to the UN Security Council and General Assembly this month, is a follow-up to last year’s presentation by the Secretary-General’s office on peacebuilding in the immediate aftermath of conflict.

    The Secretary-General singles out the 2009 UN Environment Programme (UNEP) study “From Conflict to Peacebuilding: The Role of Environment and Natural Resources” for demonstrating the recent links between land use, natural resources, frequency of conflict, and conflict relapse. The Secretary-General writes:
    44. I wish to highlight two areas of increasing concern where greater efforts will be needed to deliver a more effective United Nations response. First, natural resources: a recent study by the United Nations Environment Programme concluded that 40 per cent of internal conflicts over a 60-year period were associated with land and natural resources, and that this link doubles the risk of conflict relapse in the first five years. Efforts have been made to draw early attention to these risks and to improve inter-agency coordination to address them, including by strengthening national capacity to prevent disputes over land and natural resources, as described in paragraph 31 above. Examples include programmes in Afghanistan, Timor-Leste and the Sudan, where coordination among several United Nations entities addressing land and natural resource management has demonstrated the importance of an inclusive approach. In order to further deliver on the ground I call on Member States and the United Nations system to make questions of natural resource allocation, ownership and access an integral part of peacebuilding strategies.
    ECSP Director Geoff Dabelko calls the inclusion of this language “an important step towards integrating environmental issues into broader UN peacebuilding efforts and providing critical top-level political support for this integration effort.”

    UNEP’s Post-Conflict and Disaster Management Branch (PCDMB) has been working to support a variety of UN bodies on integrating environment and natural resources into the peacebuilding process. Recent PCDMB efforts have been based in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Sierra Leone, the DRC, and Sudan. New Security Beat asked UNEP PCDMB’s Director of Policy and Planning David Jensen to reflect on the new report via email:
    I’m thrilled to finally see that after over 10 years of work by UNEP and a variety of other organizations and scholars, these issues have finally been recognized at the highest political level. There is no longer any doubt that the mismanagement of natural resources can be a key factor in contributing to violent conflict. At the same time, the very recognition that environmental issues and natural resources can contribute to violent conflict underscores their potential significance as pathways for cooperation, transformation, and the consolidation of peace in war-torn societies.
    As Jensen writes in ECSP Report 13, “If people cannot find clean water for drinking, wood for shelter and energy, or land for crops, what are the chances that peace will be successful and durable? Very slim.”

    Last fall, Jensen predicted the UN was finally approaching a fundamental tipping point for inclusion of natural resource issues in the broader peacebuilding process, and the Secretary-General appears to have proven him right.

    Photo Credit: “Secretary-General Addresses General Assembly,” courtesy of flickr user United Nations Photo.
    Topics: conflict, cooperation, environmental peacemaking, environmental security, natural resources, security, UN
    • http://www.blogger.com/profile/18337694112852162181 Geoff Dabelko

      Congratulations to UNEP and also all UN components who are working this challenging portfolio in a variety of settings: DPKO greening its Blue Helmet footprint while taking greater account of the role NR issues in the conflicts; Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) which is bringing NRM issues directly into assessments and responses to the diverse set of focus countries; Department of Political Affairs bringing NR considerations & expertise into the negotiations processes; Bureau of UNDP's Bureau of Crisis Prevention and Recovery who is a key partner in developing practical guidelines in different issue areas as part of a EU collaboration. DESA, UNESCO, and the list goes on and on. The transition underway appears to be from establishing relevance to working on the best tools in the toolbox and addressing the problems. Not there aren't miles to go and plenty of political and practical challenges – but there is progress to build on.

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