Trying to end the war on the world: the campaign to proscribe military ecocide

Abstract

Military ecocide, the destruction of the natural environment in the course of fighting or preparing for war, has a long history and remains a regular feature of contemporary conflicts. Efforts to prohibit this in international law were initiated after the US' notorious defoliation campaign in the Vietnam War in the 1960s and have advanced since then. Legal ambiguities and the defence of military necessity have limited the application of this body of law but the proscription of ecocide has, nonetheless, progressed and looks set to develop further. Normative change driven by scientists, environmentalists and legal experts has raised awareness of and stigmatised such practises to the extent that recourse to the worst excesses of ecocide now appears to have lessened and some recompense for past crimes has been made. Military activities, though, still inflict a heavy cost on the environment.

Beyond disaster vulnerabilities: An empirical investigation of the causal pathways linking conflict to disaster risks

“…Conflicts can lead to environmental change and degradation, including agricultural abandonment and forest degradation (Baumann & Kuemmerle, 2016), through impacts on ecosystems, institutional mechanisms, and circumstances that drive people to resort to unsustainable practices (Conca & Wallace, 2009). Extensive forest destruction has been documented in conflicts around the world, from the Vietnam War (1962)(1963)(1964)(1965)(1966)(1967)(1968)(1969)(1970)(1971) (Falk, 1973;Zierler, 2011) to Indonesia in the 1960s (Peluso & Vandergeest, 2011) and El Salvador in the 1980s (Hough, 2016). The damage in Vietnam was so severe that it transformed ecosystems from forest to savanna (Falk, 1973), and the forests of El Salvador never regenerated (Hough, 2016).…”

“…Extensive forest destruction has been documented in conflicts around the world, from the Vietnam War (1962)(1963)(1964)(1965)(1966)(1967)(1968)(1969)(1970)(1971) (Falk, 1973;Zierler, 2011) to Indonesia in the 1960s (Peluso & Vandergeest, 2011) and El Salvador in the 1980s (Hough, 2016). The damage in Vietnam was so severe that it transformed ecosystems from forest to savanna (Falk, 1973), and the forests of El Salvador never regenerated (Hough, 2016). Deforestation as an extension of violence may contribute to the creation of hazards like drought in northern Uganda (Branch, 2018).…”

Back to the future: environmental security in nineteenth century global politics

“…This Russian strategy was learned from British military leader Wellington who two years earlier, in alliance with Portuguese guerrilla forces, had resisted a French invasion in the Peninsular War in a similar manner. French military power was built on its arable supremacy, allowing her to feed the biggest army in Europe, and this had come to be realised by those on the receiving end of her autarky (Hough, 2016).…”

“…The British employed such tactics in suppressing the 1817-18 Sri Lankan Great Rebellionand again at the end of the century in the 2 nd Boer War against Dutch settlers in the power struggle over South Africa. Such methods also came to be deployed defensively by colonials, such as in the 1812-13 South American War of Independence by Argentine patriots defending against the Spanish/ Royalists (Hough, 2016). Environmental determinism thus became entwined in European imperialism.…”

Environmental Warfare Tactics in Irregular Conflicts

“…Consider the following examples: Conflict actors sometimes engage in widespread environmental destruction far beyond the threshold of military necessity. After the 1991 Gulf War, Saddam Hussein’s government retaliated against Shi’a rebels by draining the marshes of southern Iraq (Hough 2016, 12). Cynically described as an agricultural development project, Saddam’s actions obliterated the largest wetland ecosystem in the region and devastated the Ma’dan population that had inhabited the marshlands for over five thousand years (Human Rights Watch 2003).…”