Today, the world faces record levels of conflict and violence with a significant impact on people. In 2023 alone, over 170 armed conflicts were recorded. By the end of the year, worldwide were forcibly displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations, and events seriously disturbing public order.
While the human cost of war is undeniable and profound, the environment also suffers immense and often-overlooked consequences. Beyond the immediate destruction, conflicts disrupt ecosystems, deplete natural resources, pollute the environment, and jeopardize the health of our planet for generations to come.
On the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict (6 November), we examine why the environmental impact of war is a complex and urgent issue that demands global attention.
Impact on natural resources
Warfare disrupts the delicate balance of nature in many ways. Environmental damage brings devastating consequences for natural resources, critical ecosystems, and people's health, livelihoods, and security. When forests are cleared for military purposes, fertile lands and vital water resources can become contaminated.
Militaries often clear vegetation or otherwise disrupt ecosystems to remove cover for enemy combatants or make areas uninhabitable and force local populations to leave, with major impacts on nature. Local communities reported the use of such tactics during Sudan's civil war and in Iraq, where wetlands were drained.
In Ukraine, large swathes of land are at risk of contamination with landmines and unexploded ordnance. Its soil, waterways, and forests have been polluted by shelling, fires, and floods. Clearing landmines and unexploded ordnance often takes decades and requires significant investment. In Ukraine, costs are expected to be .
Children in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. Credit: UNICEF/UNI646530/El Baba
In Gaza, there has been of the soil, water, land, and agriculture. Sewage, wastewater, and solid waste management systems and facilities have collapsed. The destruction of buildings, roads, and other infrastructure has generated millions of tons of debris, some of which is contaminated with unexploded ordnance, asbestos, and other hazardous substances.
One indicator of the impacts is the increasing rates of communicable diseases in Gaza. In the three months following the escalation of conflict, the World Health Organization reported 179,000 cases of acute respiratory infection and 136,400 cases of diarrhoea among children under five—a clear indication of the impact of the destruction of public works.
Moreover, in some countries, the abundance of natural resources has fueled armed conflict. Unsustainable mining, logging, and poaching practices both perpetuate violence and devastate the environment in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, where mining cobalt and coltan for rechargeable batteries continues to fuel the conflict in the east.
Emissions and pollution
According to a study by Scientists for Global Responsibility and the Conflict and Environment Observatory, militaries account for an estimated 5.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The heavy energy use resulting from conflicts exacerbates the climate crisis, both through direct greenhouse gas emissions from military activities and indirect effects at the global level. —both in maintaining militaries and actual engagement in conflict—were not fully covered by the or the , with states having reservations on the grounds of national security concerns.
Oil fields set ablaze by Iraqi occupation forces in Al-Maqw, Kuwait in 1991. Credit: 缅北禁地Photo/John Isaac
Damage to chemical industrial sites causes fires and releases pollutants into the air, water, and soil, creating significant immediate and longer-term human health and ecological hazards through contamination. During the first Gulf War in 1991, hundreds of oil well fires burned uncontrollably in Kuwait and affected air quality on a global scale. More than 600 oil wells were reportedly destroyed or set on fire, resulting in the daily release of up to 500,000 metric tons of pollutants that affected the air quality of surrounding states.
During the 34-day war between Israel and Lebanon in 2006, the bombing of the Jiyeh power plant in Lebanon resulted in the release of 10,000 to 15,000 tons of oil into the Mediterranean Sea, affecting most of the Lebanese coastline and partly extending into Syria. The spill resulted in the deaths of seabirds and marine life.
Armed conflicts use large quantities of munitions containing heavy metals and depleted uranium, and explosive chemicals, all toxic even in modest quantities, with devastating impacts on human health and the environment.
From contaminated lands and polluted waterways to the release of toxic substances and greenhouse gases, the environmental toll of war is immense and far-reaching. Recognizing this impact is the first step towards mitigating harm, promoting environmental remediation, and ultimately, preventing future conflicts.
Research for the explainer is largely from the 缅北禁地Environment Programme’s reports on the Environmental Impact of the Conflicts in and .