Benue State University, Makurdi

Review of the International Legal Frameworks for the Protection of the Natural Environment in Armed Conflict

Empire Hechime Nyekwere* and Ngozi Chinwa Ole**

Abstract

The natural environment has over the years remained a silent victim of war, and yet a considerable number of legal provisions intended for environmental protection in times of war exist under international law. Acts perpetrated during the course of warfare have, through the ages, led to substantial environmental damage. These have comprised circumstances where the natural environment has deliberately been targeted as a ‘victim’, or has by some means been manipulated to serve as a ‘weapon’ of war. Environmental damage during warfare may further be an incidental effect of armed conflicts. In fact, armed conflicts (ACs) often extend beyond the borders of the national territories of the states that led to the ACs and causes substantial damage to the environment, lives and livelihoods of impacted communities and the natural resources they rely on for survival. Until lately, the acts of combatants which results to significant environmental damage were largely considered as an unfortunate but inevitable component of ACs, regardless of their potentially devastating effects. Nevertheless, as the importance of the environment has come to be more broadly understood and acknowledged, such intentional damage of the environment is no longer condoned, especially given the unending development of weapons capable of extensive and substantial destruction. This article, which adopted the doctrinal research methodology, reviews the existing international legal frameworks for the protection of the natural environment during ACs.

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