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Key Message

Environmental degradation and the mismanagement of natural resources can fuel conflict between and within states, contribute to poverty and state failure, and leave communities more vulnerable to disasters.

At the same time, environmental issues can provide an opportunity to foster dialogue and cooperation over shared interests, reducing tensions between conflicting parties.

Environment and Security (E&S)

What's New in Environment and Security?

  • Growing Unrest: The links between farmed and fished resources and the risk of conflict (PDF - 531 kb)
    This paper examines the links between the risk of conflict and the production and trade of agricultural and marine commodities. It does so using a series of case studies: cocoa in Côte d’Ivoire, bananas and subsequently fisheries in Somalia, and cotton in Central Asia. Much like the traditional conflict resources (oil, diamonds, timber, minerals, etc.), there is strong evidence that fished and farmed commodities can also be (mis)used in such a way that their production and trade contribute to the onset or continuation of violent conflict.

  • Environmental Change and the New Security Agenda: Implications for Canada's security and environment (PDF - 688 kb)
    This paper investigates how environmental change and Canadian security are interlinked. First, it attempts to chart the ways in which global environmental change (such as climate change and environmental mismanagement) affect Canada's domestic security and the welfare of Canadian interests overseas. Second, the paper analyzes the links between environment and security from the opposite direction: we assess the environmental implications of what we call 'the new security agenda', Canada's current national security focus on the prevention of terrorism. Read the related commentary (PDF - 117) that originally appeared in the Toronto Star.

IISD believes that the mismanagement of our natural resources lies at the heart of many conflicts and disaster vulnerability.

Sustainable development is impossible without security. Yet since the end of the Cold War, violent conflict has killed or displaced millions of people. Meanwhile, the frequency and toll of natural disasters is on the rise, driven in part by an unpredictable and changing global climate.

It is clear that a better understanding of the links between environmental change and human security is vital for effective peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction. Conflict-sensitive conservation could both protect biodiversity and contribute to peace-building. Better environmental management may help reduce community vulnerability to floods and droughts. IISD's work seeks to understand these links and provide practical advice on how careful management of our environment and our resources can contribute to conflict avoidance and disaster resilience.

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