The International Legal Dimension of Environmental Peacebuilding

The key question that the project addresses is: How can international law foster environmental peacebuilding? In order to achieve a durable peace in States emerging from armed conflict, it is essential to integrate environmental concerns in peacebuilding strategies. This is the idea underlying the notion of ‘environmental peacebuilding’ which has two interconnected objectives: 1) to reduce conflict risks associated with natural resources and environmental factors; and 2) to enable societies to benefit fully of their environment and natural resources. Existing scholarship has provided important insights into the challenges of environmental peacebuilding and how these can be addressed. It has however overlooked the essential role that international law plays in peacebuilding processes. For this reason, we have little to no understanding of how States' commitments under international law impact on environmental peacebuilding processes. This project intends to bridge that gap. It aims to understand the utility of international law for integrating natural resource management and environmental protection into peacebuilding activities. By assessing relevant norms and how they can be integrated, the purpose is to build a legal framework for environmental peacebuilding. The framework will be critically assessed, partly by testing it in two post-conflict studies to ensure its coherence.