The United Nations Environment Program is highlighting the battle by Iraqi forces to reclaim Mosul from the Islamic State as the latest instance in the complex but very real linkage between military conflicts around the world and extreme environmental degradation.

Citing dangerous air conditions from 19 torched oil wells as Islamic State militants retreat from their positions, as well as toxic air pollution following the burning of the Mishraq Sulphate Factory, the group’s head Erik Solheim said in a statement, “This is sadly just the latest episode in what has been the wholesale destruction of Iraq’s environment over several decades – from the draining of the marshlands to the contamination of land and the collapse of environmental management systems.”

“This ongoing ecocide is a recipe for a prolonged disaster,” Solheim continued. “It makes living conditions dangerous and miserable, if not impossible. It will push countless people to join the unprecedented global refugee population. That’s why the environment needs to be placed at the center of crisis response, conflict prevention and conflict resolution.”

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