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NewSecurityBeat

The blog of the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program
Showing posts by Wim Zwijnenburg.
  • Climate Crisis Exacerbates Military Legacy Contamination

    ›
    Guest Contributor  //  September 21, 2021  //  By Wim Zwijnenburg
    An,Aerial,View,Of,The,Sinking,German,Ship,Fritz,From

    This summer, climate-induced heat waves ignited landmines and unexploded ordnance buried in the soils around the Middle East, killing people and causing wildfires.  Warmer waters are speeding up erosion of sunken battleships laden with degrading munitions. A melting ice sheet on Greenland has exposed thousands of barrels of toxic waste at abandoned U.S. military bases.  

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  • Nature-based Solutions Vital to Mitigating Conflict-linked Environmental Damage

    ›
    Guest Contributor  //  February 18, 2021  //  By Wim Zwijnenburg
    IMG_5386

    When the dust settles after wars and armed conflicts, people are eager to rebuild their lives and livelihoods in the wake of the devastation wrought upon their country. Often one issue is largely absent in post-conflict reconstruction and development planning: addressing conflict-linked destruction of the environment. 

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  • The Environment Has Become a Hostage of Armed Conflict

    ›
    Guest Contributor  //  November 6, 2019  //  By Wim Zwijnenburg
    Syria_BurningCrop_FB

    This year, 2019, marked a new nadir for the environment that may reflect an ominous trend in warfare: Environmentally sensitive targets are being weaponized and taken hostage. Farmland went up in flames and burning oil tankers dominated the headlines, serving as a stark reminder of conflict’s ripple effects.

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  • Inclusive Protection of Civilians During Conflicts: Making a Case for the Environment

    ›
    Guest Contributor  //  June 12, 2019  //  By Wim Zwijnenburg
    1280px-F-14A_VF-114_over_burning_Kuwaiti_oil_wells_1991

    It is important to take an inclusive and tangible approach to protecting civilians by protecting the environment during armed conflicts. In recent decades, the link between conflict, the environment and the protection of civilians has become painstakingly clear. From Iraq to Ukraine, Libya to Yemen, dozens of incidents have surfaced where environmental damage resulting from conflict has led to acute or chronic health risks to civilians and their communities, undermining their socioeconomic development.

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  • From Resolution to Solution: UNEA’s Unique Opportunity to Tackle Environmental Dimensions of Armed Conflicts

    ›
    Guest Contributor  //  March 8, 2019  //  By Wim Zwijnenburg
    UN Environment Assembly

    When the Fourth Session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-4) takes place in Nairobi starting March 11, governments, international organizations, and civil society organizations will discuss issues on the theme of innovative solutions for environmental challenges and sustainable consumption and production with over 30 draft resolutions submitted for discussion. With few international forums where the environmental dimensions of conflict can be properly discussed, we were optimistic about the past resolutions tackling this topic.

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  • Environmental Security in Times of Armed Conflict

    ›
    Guest Contributor  //  November 6, 2018  //  By Wim Zwijnenburg
    Iraq Refugee Camp

    This summer, Iraqi citizens in Basra demonstrated in the streets to protest a serious public health crisis caused by polluted water. The condition of their water infrastructure was deplorable after years of devastating wars, corruption, and droughts and regional hydropolitics. More than 100,000 people have reportedly been poisoned by polluted water, while recent estimates warn that some 277,000 children are at risk of diseases, such as cholera due to rundown water and sanitation facilities at schools.

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  • A Ukrainian Stand-Off: The Toxic Consequences of Armed Conflict in Donbass

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    Guest Contributor  //  May 7, 2018  //  By Wim Zwijnenburg
    IMAG0237
    Toxic waste pond near the village of Novhorodske burning after being hit by a shell in August 2014. (Source: Evgeniy Didus, Director of the Phenol Factory)

    A looming industrial tower of pipelines and chemical storage tanks rises out of snowy landscape. In Novogorodske, a small quiet town in eastern Ukraine, workers go about their daily business at the Dzerzhinsk Phenol Factory. A penetrating, inescapable smell greeted us as we entered the village, which a Dutch journalist and I are visiting as part of our investigation into the environmental and health risks from ongoing fighting in Eastern Ukraine. Our research for the open-source collective Bellingcat has identified the factory as one of a number of potential environmental flashpoints.

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  • A Toxic Legacy: Remediating Pollution in Iraq

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    Guest Contributor  //  November 6, 2017  //  By Wim Zwijnenburg
    Boys-Playing-Oil-Fires

    As the so-called Islamic State loses control over the areas it once occupied, it is leaving behind a toxic legacy.  The initial findings of a scoping mission undertaken by UN Environment Programme’s Conflict and Disasters branch found a trail of localized pollution that could have acute and chronic consequences for Iraq—and not just for its environment.

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