Nature-based Solutions Vital to Mitigating Conflict-linked Environmental Damage
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.
Not only is the environment a “silent victim of armed conflict,” people often overlook it, despite the huge environmental damage conflicts cause with impacts that echo long into the future. Conflict pollution, land degradation, over-exploitation of natural resources, and weak environmental governance have direct and long-term consequences for communities and directly impact climate-resilience capacities.