Natural Resources: Case Studies

Liberia: Former combatants and natural resources

In Liberia the particular DDR process was developed to address the immediate livelihood gap created by the disarmament and demobilization processes. The specific reliance of these fighters on illegal extraction of natural resources was exacerbated by the Liberian Government's lack of adherence to regulatory frameworks put in place to control this practice. The UN mission in Liberia (UNMIL) was mandated to work with the government to gain control over the diamond, rubber and forestry sectors - the exploitation of which funded Charles Taylor's brutal reign and Liberia's civil wars.

ICG has stated that UNMIL's effectiveness however, was undermined by a lack of legal authority to arrest illegal timber or diamond operations, which "led to a growing sense of impunity and a resurgence of illegal mining and logging activities."1 Additionally, almost three times the numbers of former combatants registered in the DD process than originally anticipated. This led to funding shortfalls for the reintegration side of the programs, and delays in their implementation. Many former fighters felt abandoned by UNMIL's promises of reintegration programs for skills training and job opportunities.

Today however, innovative practices can be found to address such problems with a broad coalition of local actors and government support. In Liberia, the Rubber Plantation Task Force was launched by UNMIL and the new administration of President Johnson-Sirleaf to address the problem of illegal exploitation of rubber - led in many cases by disgruntled ex-combatants. The Task Force brings together Government of Liberia ministries and a range of UN and other international actors to address legal and management, rule of law and security, human rights and labor issues in an integrated manner. This participative process of a range of stakeholders led to a de-escalation of security and political tension associated with the disgruntled workers of the plantation. Initiatives such as these can offer much promise when adapted to other contexts.

For more information:

Brown, Kaysie. "War Economies and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding: Identifying a Weak Link," Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, 3, no. 1 (2006): 6-19.

Jaye, Thomas. "An Assessment Report on Security Sector Reform in Liberia," Governance Reform Commission of Liberia, September, 2006.

McCandless, Erin and W. Tyler Christie. "Beyond Sanctions: Evolving Integrated Strategies to Address Natural Resource-based Challenges in Post-conflict Liberia," Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, 3, no. 1, (2006): 20-35.

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Papua New Guinea: Extractive mining and the separatist movement

Papua New Guinea is home to one of the world's largest gold reserves in the world, as well as significant silver and copper deposits. However, this natural resource wealth has not translated to development. Rather, from the 1960s on, poorly managed mining operations polluted many areas and national policies favored the private sector at the expense of local communities. In the late 1980s, unequal revenue distribution in the Bougainville region led to a large uprising, which led to a protracted conflict for independence. This conflict is often cited as an example of the natural resource curse theory.

For more information:

Ballentine, Karen and Jake Sherman, eds., The Political Economy of Armed Conflict: Beyond Greed and Grievance. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2003.

Banks, Glenn "Understanding 'Resource' Conflicts in Papua New Guinea," Asia Pacific Viewpoint 49, no. 1 (April 2008): 23-34.

Gomez, Brian. "PNG Mining Boom Pushes Economic Recovery," Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center, The National Online, June 8, 2007.

Leonard, Thomas M., Encyclopedia of the Developing World. New York, NY: Routledge, 2006.

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Sierra Leone: Natural Resources and the Peacebuilding Commission

Civil society organizations have recently criticized the Peacebuilding Commission for failing to address the natural resource dimensions of the conflict in Sierra Leone, where diamonds and timber were a source of grievance and financing for the violence. Early PBC strategies included natural resources, but by June 2007, the issue had been dropped from the Integrated Peacebuilding Strategy for Sierra Leone (IPBS).

For more information:

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, "Insights About Contemporary Conflict and Peace-building: Lessons from/for Africa," Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.

Global Policy Forum, "Sierra Leone," Global Policy Forum.

Global Witness, "Peacebuilding Omission? A Submission on the Need to Integrate Natural Resource Management in the Peacebuilding Commission's Post-conflict Reconstruction Strategies in Sierra Leone and Elsewhere," Relief Web, October 15, 2007.

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Chad: Oil Revenues, IFIs and (Un)Accountability

Chad has been, in many respects, the poster child for the conflict trap. In 1975, President Tombalbaye of Chad was overthrown and killed by rebels desiring a share of the country's future oil revenues - from reserves not yet even being pumped. That insurgency sparked a civil war that ended over 12 years later, and the country is still wracked by resource-related conflicts today. So when the World Bank agreed to finance an oil pipeline in 2000, it viewed the Chad pipeline as a promising test case for the promotion of good governance and accountability. If, in exchange for the Bank's backing, the Chadian government could be convinced to spend all project revenues on development (especially health care and education) by having the associated oil companies deposit royalties into an escrow account, Chad could signal the way out of continuing conflict and poverty for African nations rich in resources but with weak and unaccountable governments. The pipeline was designed to bring that landlocked country's most valuable natural resource from the southern oilfields near Doba through Cameroon to the port of Kribi on the Gulf of Guinea. But in September of 2008, the World Bank finally backed out of its role as partial financier. From the beginning, funds were diverted to arms purchases and other military expenditures, possibly fueling a crisis in Darfur and helping to keep an unpopular and increasingly autocratic President Dby in power in the midst of mounting political violence. In 2008, Chad finally repaid the Bank's loan, reneged on the letter of the original deal (the spirit had long gone unheeded), and the Bank's role came to abrupt end.

This case is a stark reminder that external attempts to impose accountability on governments reliant on natural resource exploitation can meet with very limited success in cases where domestic political actors are determined to see the schemes fail. Furthermore, it shows that even "non-lootable" resources can essentially be looted given enough collective action motivated by future windfalls.

For more information:

"Breaking the Bank: A Vaunted Development Project Goes Awry," The Economist, September 25, 2008.

Humphreys, Macartan. "Natural Resources, Conflict, and Conflict Resolution: Uncovering the Mechanisms," Journal of Conflict Resolution 49, no. 4 (2005): 508-537.

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Botswana: Diamonds and Downstream Industry

Botswana produces 27% of the world's diamonds, measured by value but recently, it only exported rough stones, to be cut and faceted abroad. Yet gem cutting adds around 40% more value to the export, so Botswana has recently launched an attempt to keep the downstream diamond industries in the country - starting with cutting and polishing, and eventually expanding to security, technology and financial services related to the diamond industry. Such forward industrial linkages and horizontal diversification convey great benefits to poor nations' economies. Botswana began by requiring De Beers, the predominant company in the diamond business, to open a Diamond Trading Company (DTC) in Botswana's capital, Gabarone, in order to renew its mining license. Furthermore, the diamond companies allowed to buy from the DTC are required to establish cutting and polishing centers domestically. De Beers now plans to stock all diamonds it markets in Gaborone rather than London. The Economist argues that the next step for African countries like Botswana, Namibia and South Africa hoping to keep large portions of gemstone value chains at home would be to reform the duty, tax and currency regimes to make them more competitive with those of the current gemstone cutting capitals of India and Israel.

This model is clearly not perfectly adoptable for post-conflict countries; among the reasons De Beers agreed to open up the DTC were Botswana's admirable security and a government relatively transparent and free of corruption. However, it does show that as demand outstrips supply for many raw materials, poor countries have a strong card to play to encourage domestic economic diversification.

For more information:

Dunning, Thad. "Resource Dependence, Economic Performance, and Political Stability," The Journal of Conflict Resolution, 49, no. 4, Paradigm in Distress? Primary Commodities and Civil War (August 2005): 451-482.

Taylor, Ian and Gladys Mokhawa, "Not Forever: Botswana, Conflict Diamonds, and the Bushmen," African Affairs, 102, no. 407 (April 2003): 261-283.

"Keeping the Sparkle at Home: African Diamond Producers Want to Extract More Value from their Stones," The Economist, March 19, 2008.

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Minerals

The role of minerals in conflict

According to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), mineral wealth is linked to violent conflict in three primary ways: 1). Financing conflict; 2). Leading to lower-scale conflicts; and 3). Increasing vulnerability and corruption, which may weaken state legitimacy and capacity to effectively govern.2 Minerals are often used to finance conflict because of several characteristics. Minerals are lootable (i.e. easily extracted and transported) and extraction and trade are difficult to regulate and monitor. USAID argues that lootability is the key characteristic in determining linkages to crime and conflict.3

Drawing on the research of Karen Ballentine, Jake Sherman, Philippe Le Billon, and Michael Ross, USAID asserts that the presence of minerals can affect the geographic focus, duration, and intensity of violence conflict. First, "even if controlling mineral resources is not the original cause of conflict, it can become the focus of fighting."4 Additionally, when mineral deposits are present in remote regions, secessionist movements and conflict can evolve quietly, with little international attention. Second, mineral revenues can finance protracted conflicts and deter incentives for peace, and ownership disagreements can increase the complexity and duration of peace. Finally, revenue from minerals can intensify the level of violence and fund arms purchases. However, mineral wealth can serve as an avenue for peace and confidence building when local rebels and government officials are willing to cooperate with legal mining statutes.5 It is important to note that both governments and rebels can use revenues from mining to finance violent conflict.6

Alluvial diamonds

Alluvial diamonds have garnered the most attention, because of their prominence in financing, causing and protracting violent conflict in West Africa. According to Philippe Le Billon, alluvial diamonds are considered to be a "guerrilla's best friend," because of their importance in financing rebel movements and protracting war in Angola and Sierra Leone.7 Alluvial diamonds, as opposed to kimberlite diamonds, are extremely easy to extract and require little investment in equipment or transportation infrastructure. While kimberlite mines are large, concentrated in specific areas and require industrial-size systems, alluvial mines are smaller, more scattered, and require little more than a basic shovel and bucket to operate. "Small, low-weight, easily concealable, anonymous and internationally tradable, diamonds found in alluvial deposits are not amenable to governments control."8

Due to their lootability, accessibility, high weight-to-value ratio, and concealability9 the alluvial diamond industry and trade are difficult for governments to control, while creating the perfect situation for exploitation by rebel groups.10 Important to the conflict and peace context is empirical evidence that "regions with alluvial diamonds are more likely to be embroiled in civil war than those with kimberlite diamonds, suggesting that, at least, alluvial diamonds represent a financial opportunity that can attract rebel movements."11 Alluvial diamonds are also frequently used for money laundering and financing clandestine activities, because they are easy to transport and trade. Alluvial diamonds "are among the favourite modes for stockpiling and transferring wealth without the risk of volatile local currencies, unreliable banking systems, or financial sanctions."12

Peacebuilding strategies involving minerals

Despite these acknowledged links between mineral wealth and conflict, minerals and revenue from mining can be used to promote peace and long-term development. According to USAID, mining offers many potential benefits in terms of employment, wealth creation, state and infrastructure investment.13 The international community and individual states are implementing mechanisms to control the governance of mineral mining and trade. The Kimberley Process has set a precedent in natural resource governance and is promoting a "new school of thought" in the responsible trading of natural resources.14 Additionally, sanctions are being enacted in some cases to stem illegal mining and underground activities.15

Finally, while alluvial diamonds are capturing much of the world's attention on extractive minerals, other valuable metals and minerals have similar lootability characteristics. For example, rubies and sapphires in Cambodia and Burma and coltan in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been identified as causes of conflict and as methods of financing continued conflict.16

For more information:

Le Billon, Philippe, Fuelling War: Natural Resources and Armed Conflict. Adelphi Paper 373, London: Routledge for IISS, 2005.

Thomson, Jamie and Ramzy Kanaan, "Conflict Timber: Dimensions of the Problem in Asia and Africa: Volume I," Washington DC: United States Agency for International Development.

United States Agency for International Development (USAID), "Minerals and Conflict: A Toolkit for Intervention," Washington DC: USAID, 2005.

Wallensteen, Peter, Mikael Eriksson, and Daniel Strandow, Sanctions for Conflict Prevention and Peace Building: Lessons Learned from Cte d'Ivoire and Liberia. Uppsala: Uppsala University Department of Peace and Conflict Research, 2006.

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Timber

The role of timber in conflict

Like minerals, timber is a highly lootable natural resource with strong linkages to violent conflict. Recent conflicts in Cambodia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Democratic Republic of Congo have sustained at varying levels by the timber trade.17 According to a Global Witness report, "A few soldiers with chainsaws and trucks can generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in a relatively short time; a well-resourced company can generate hundreds of millions," and timber is often the commodity of choice for warring factions in control of forest land and seeking to gain access to quick and easy sources of conflict.18 Compounding these risk factors is the fact that the trade of timber is largely unregulated and watchdog organizations have found that large amounts of timber imported in Western countries is actually illegal.19 "Conflict timber is closely linked to the increasingly important issue of illegal logging. Conflict timber is not necessarily illegal, as the legality (or otherwise) of timber is a product of national laws. However, in practice, conflict timber is usually illegal timber."20

Also comparable to minerals, the trade of conflict timber contributes to corruption and the erosion of so-called democratic principles. Part of this is due to partnerships between timber companies and the government, which ignore the needs and rights of local communities and exacerbate tension. "The tropical timber industry traditionally engages leaders of countries with large forest resources and weak institutions. Abiding by 'local business practices,' it negotiates deals to extract raw materials as cheaply as possible. This mode of doing business suits the warlord economy extremely well."21 Additionally, the international community has not taken a strong stance against conflict timber, except for UN Security Council sanctions imposed in 1992 on members of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and a G-8 stance against illegal logging in the five-point Okinawa statement.22

Peacebuilding strategies involving timber

In order to transform the timber industry from a conflict contributor to a tool for building peace, economic recovery and long-term development, the non-governmental organization Global Witness recommends the following:

  • Improved governance (including revenue sharing and community benefits);
  • Enhanced monitoring and regulation enforcement;
  • Legislative reform for improved governance;
  • Improved mechanisms for monitoring chain of custody;
  • Improved private sector engagement and the promotion of corporate social responsibility (CSR).23
All of these strategies require cooperation at both the domestic and international levels. Additionally, it should be recognized that these strategies are also applicable to other lootable resources.

For more information:

Fafo Institute for Applied Social Science (Fafo), "The Logs of War: The Timber Trade and Armed Conflict," Oslo: Fafo, 2002.

Ian Bannon and Paul Collier (eds), Natural Resources and Violent Conflict: Options and Actions. The World Bank, 2003.

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Land

The role of land in conflict

Land is integral to human survival. In addition to it being the most basic aspect of subsistence for many people around the world, it often contains valuable natural resources on or beneath it. As such, land is a highly strategic socio-economic asset, particularly in poor societies where survival and wealth are often measured by control of, and access to, livelihood resources, such as land.24 Land is also often connected to social and cultural identity, and thus, generated strong emotional ties.25 At the same time, the complexities of land tenure are often both political and technical,26 creating permissive conditions for conflict. Land-related conflicts have occurred in many nations worldwide, but are presently particularly prevalent in the Middle East, as well as in Sudan.

Issues of increasing scarcity of land, historical legacies of discrimination and highly unequal land access have been sources of conflict in the past and continue to lie at the heart of many contemporary conflicts.27 "Population growth and environmental stresses have exacerbated the perception of land as a dwindling resource, tightening the connection between land and violent conflict."28 Land tenure refers to rights of access to and use of land, and there is often violence or conflict where land tenure rights are not protected, or more generally, where there are weak legal, institutional, and traditional institutions and protections.29

Peacebuilding strategies involving land

Given the complexity of the relationship between land and conflict, it is also a critical element in peacebuilding and economic recovery in post-conflict situations. "Addressing land issues effectively demands a broad, integrated, and inter-disciplinary approach."30 To start with, land issues should be considered as an important element in peace agreements.31 Access to land, including land distribution, while a concern at various points of the conflict cycle, is best addressed early on. The approach should be based on an understanding of the indigenous land tenure systems.32

The quality of land governance is also an important peacebuilding challenge, requiring "active participation by civil society and the private sector."33 The Peacebuilding Commission recommends: Advocacy, capacity building, training and development of tools to integrate land issues into peacebuilding.34 Effective land policies are also at the heart of good land governance; they can contribute to the wellbeing of and the economic opportunities open to rural people and peaceful coexistence.35 In a paper for the Chr. Michelsen Institute, Mustafa Babiker has underscored the need to ensure that land policies are not "characterized by preconceived notions and ideological viewpoints rather than by careful analysis of the reality on the ground."36 As such, land policies should be rooted in research findings that are based "on the specific contexts and realities of the situation and that these findings be disseminated in easy to understand modalities."37

USAID also offers recommendations for integrating land issues into the peacebuilding agenda:

  • Framing interventions by sector - for example, land rights as prerequisites for economic development or as a piece of the post-conflict economic reconstruction agenda;
  • Improving land access;
  • Increasing tenure security;
  • Identifying and resolving competing claims;
  • Addressing post-conflict land issues;
  • Using complementary activities and approaches - for example, incorporating land issues with public education and/or justice initiatives.38
For more information:

Mustafa Babiker, "Communal Land Rights and Peace-building in North Kordofan: Policy and Legislative Challenges," Sudan Working Paper SWP 2008:3, Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute, 2008.

Peacebuilding Commission Working Group on Lessons Learned, "From Conflict to Peacebuilding: The Role of Natural Resources and Environment: Executive Summary," WGLL/2008/10. New York: United Nations Peacebuilding Commission, May 8, 2008.

United Nations Peacebuilding Commission, "Environment, Conflict and Peacebuilding," Concept Note, New York: Peacebuilding Commission, May 8, 2008.

United States Agency for International Development (USAID), "Land and Conflict," Washington, DC: USAID, 2004.

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Water

The importance of water to human life and livelihoods is indisputable. As such, issues of access and fair usage are often a source of conflict, and key element of many peace related processes.

The role of water in conflict

Water is increasingly featuring prominently in small-scale disputes and conflicts throughout the globe, and many experts argue that this trend is likely to continue to escalate. As population pressures place greater demands on finite water supplies, coping with competing needs have fueled acrimony between bordering states that may share fresh water reserves across their boundaries. According to a report by the Global Policy Forum, over 50 nations on 5 continents are presently at risk of water-related disputes, potentially avoidable if measures are taken to rapidly engage in negotiating agreements over the equitable sharing of these valuable aquifers, rivers or reservoirs.39 In fact, over a billion people are at risk in poor less developed countries of extreme economic and water poverty as their access to clean drinking water sources grows more desperate. Another real and troubling indicator is the rapid rate of aquatic habitat degradation and biodiversity loss in the last century.40

The scope of water-related conflicts can vary - they may be minor or large-scale.41 These conflicts can also occur at four interdependent levels: locally between groups over access to a water point or between the government and communities affected by the building of a dam; nationally they may occur between different interest groups over national water management policies; internationally, disputes between upstream and downstream states over the use of shared rivers; and globally between exporters and importers.42

Especially inflammatory issues fueling water conflict are water allocation and access. At their most severe, they may lead to violent confrontation either within or between neighboring states, although they are most common at the local level where disagreements over common access to a water point or in the privatization of water rights erupts into hostility.43 Internationally these strains between states can become a formidable obstacle to development, "indirectly driving poverty, migration and social instability. They also have the potential to exacerbate other non-water-related violent conflicts."44 Water related conflicts have featured prominently in the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa.

In very dry climates of arid and semi-arid parts of the world, "water stress" is created from the political pressure resulting from extreme water scarcity. Unfortunately, water stress is often a trans-boundary problem, complicating legal classifications and regulatory controls by international agencies such as the 1997 Convention on the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses Commission. Such institutions and their agreements consistently struggle with limited scope and enforceability.45

Scholars denote various methods of classification for water crisis. In one useful typology, Upmanu Lall, et al. identifies three types of water crises:

  • Access crisis - Occurring largely due to poor access to potable drinking water, this type of crisis stems from a dysfunctional basic infrastructure incapable of meeting demands to safely collect, treat and deliver drinking water to a great number of people of the world.46
  • Water pollution - Among the most adverse consequences of heavy resource use, industrial development and climate change, pollution poses a major crisis in access to safe drinking water.47
  • Scarcity and depletion - The global population's over-reliance on finite resources (akin to the scare of depleting global oil reserves) is perhaps most acute with water. Scarcity and depletion of water is more than a commodity shortage; it is a matter of life and death for entire populations at risk.48
The opposite of scarcity, abundance, can also cause its own water conflicts. Provision of water services can create a host of other disputes: inequitable distribution, disagreements over land for water infrastructure (e.g. plants and treatment centers); mismanagement of facilities or provision services; local inter-community competition; competitive uses for livestock or agriculture. In deciding arrangements for water service provision, due consideration for the impacts of those services as potential sources of additional conflict may need to be carefully considered.49

Peacebuilding strategies involving water

Many strategies have been offered by practitioners and policy makers to foster the responsible management of water resources to avoid conflict. There appears to be a tendency among many, particularly where infrastructure is poor or non-existent, to adopt a supply-side approach to water management, capitalizing on newly identified sources of water or increasing the flow via large projects such as dam construction. In contrast, another view holds that a demand-side management approach is far superior, maximizing the value of every existing source of water, encouraging its conservative use, recycling where possible, utilizing efficient technologies and creating powerful legitimate institutions to safeguard those resources effectively. This latter approach has been identified by many as the only sustainable, long-term solution.50

Other strategies linked to building peace with respect to water conflicts include: the use of broad participatory dialogue with civil society and other stakeholders; working towards clear delineation of the roles of various institutions (e.g. agriculture, fisheries, water supply, regional development, tourism, transportation, conservation and environment); improved governance, especially when motivated by mutual concern over water supplies (transboundary); better data sharing between states and stakeholders around water related issues; efforts to resolve root causes of water-related conflict;51 and finally, strategies should address water rights for indigenous peoples.52

A conflict-sensitive approach to providing water supplies is also advised by specialists to at the very least employ a do-no-harm approach and at the most be proactively designed and managed, with support structures in place, to unite individuals and communities to sustainably steward an enduring peace.53 In fact, "a mutual need to share water may be used to help forge peaceful co-operation between societal groups."54

For more information:

Rutgerd Boelens, "From Universal Prescriptions to Living Rights: Local and Indigenous Water Rights Confront Public-Private Partnerships in the Andes," Journal of International Affairs 61, no. 2, (Spring/Summer 2008).

CECORE and Saferworld, "Water Provision as a Peacebuilding Tool: Developing a conflict-sensitive Approach to Water Delivery in Uganda" London: CECORE and Saferworld, June 2008.

Development Assistance Committee (DAC), "Issues Brief: Water and Violent Conflict"

Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2005.

Global Policy Forum, "Water in Conflict," Global Policy Forum.

Upmanu Lall, et al., "Water in the 21st Century: Defining the Elements of Global Crisis and Potential Solutions," Journal of International Affairs 61, no. 2, (Spring/Summer 2008).

Wolf, Aaron T., "Water and Human Security," Aviso, Issue number 3, June 1999.

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Environment

The role of the environment in conflict

The environment can be linked to conflicts through the indirect use of natural resources or its direct use connected to resource scarcity.55 Environmental causes of conflict can also mix with other factors to generate violence or prolong existing conflicts.56 The linkages are however, quite complex and profound. As highlighted by a United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) study, ecosystems, beyond the provision of natural resources, maintain conditions for life on earth by recycling nutrients and acting as a natural buffer against extreme weather phenomena or the spread of disease.

It is then the degradation of these fragile environmental factors that can act to sharpen vulnerability to "human-driven events that destabilize societies and place people's lives and well-being at risk." The ensuing consequences are potentially far-reaching. An upset in the ecological balance or newly created scarcity can drive mass population movements, internally and across borders, for ever wider impacts. As a result, population pressures can feed conflict drivers or exacerbate pre-existing resource competition.57

Even in the natural order, both abundance (e.g. high-value lootable resources) and scarcity (e.g. finite livelihood resources) of natural resources in unequal measures can drive civil and inter-state violence. Man-made ecological change is believed to be creating similar results. Climate change is the most prominent trigger studied. Many scientists claim an expected sharp increase in the frequency and severity of disasters (e.g. floods and droughts). The broader impacts on forced population movements can cause significant strains on resource access and state capabilities while ultimately aggravating poverty. The UN Environment Program sums it up this way: "environmental stresses, and the social phenomena they engender, have both direct and indirect ties to the global community's greatest challenges: poverty, terrorism, globalization, poor governance, and inequality."58

Peacebuilding strategies and the environment

Efforts to address environment, natural resources and peacebuilding links are still relatively nascent in the academic literature and in policies. A notable deficiency in public understanding of the cause-effect relationship of environmental decline and political volatility is primarily responsible for ineffective policy responses. There seems to be some culpability within the international community as to the failure of prevailing policies in addressing these gaps in a cooperative manner to foster peacebuilding efforts. 59

In response, the PBSO is promoting the inclusion of environmental issues on the peacebuilding agenda, especially because many argue that environment-related wars are only going to increase with climate change: "Understanding possible environmental linkages to protracted violence is necessary to address the underlying causes of armed conflict. Alongside research from the past two decades, there are growing efforts in order to integrate environmental concerns into peacebuilding. There is a need to ensure that these efforts are not ad hoc and fragmented but are mainstreamed into peacebuilding policy and practice."60

Environmental peacemaking is an emerging subfield of environmental studies. However, critics say that this evolution has thus far been relatively unsuccessful, as the literature still fails to strongly link with peace studies - rather, the emerging subfield is still rooted in political science and policy studies. An even newer area of study is peace ecology, which is rooted in the idea of environmental peacemaking but is still seeking to improve the linkages between environmental and peace studies.61

For more information:

Christos N. Kyrou, "Peace Ecology: An Emerging Paradigm in Peace Studies," International Journal of Peace Studies, Volume 12, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2007.

United Nations Peacebuilding Commission, "Environment, Conflict and Peacebuilding," Concept Note, New York: Peacebuilding Commission, May 8, 2008.

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), "Understanding Environment, Conflict and Cooperation," Nairobi: UNEP, Division of Early Warning and Assessment, 2004.

1. Kaysie Brown, "War Economies and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding: Identifying a Weak Link," Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, 3: 1 (2006): 15.
2. United States Agency for International Development (USAID), "Minerals and Conflict: A Toolkit for Intervention," (USAID, 2005), 3.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Philippe Le Billon, Fuelling War: Natural Resources and Armed Conflict (London: Adelphi Paper 373, IISS, 2005), 33.
8. Ibid, 32.
9. Jamie Thomson and Ramzy Kanaan, "Conflict Timber: Dimensions of the Problem in Asia and Africa: Volume I," Final report submitted to the United States Agency for International Development, 6-7.
10. Philippe Le Billon, Fuelling War: Natural Resources and Armed Conflict, 32.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid, 33.
13. USAID, "Minerals and Conflict: A Toolkit for Intervention," 4.
14. Peter Wallensteen, Mikael Eriksson, and Daniel Strandow, Sanctions for Conflict Prevention and Peace Building: Lessons Learned from Cte d'Ivoire and Liberia, (Uppsala: Uppsala University Department of Peace and Conflict Research, 2006), 24.
15. Ibid, 23.
16. Philippe Le Billon, Fuelling War: Natural Resources and Armed Conflict, 33.
17. Fafo Institute for Applied Social Science, "The Logs of War: The Timber Trade and Armed Conflict," (Report commissioned by Global Witness, 2002, 5).
18. Ibid., 8.
19. Ibid.
20. Ibid., 7.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid., 11.
23. Ibid., 9; Ian Bannon and Paul Collier (eds), Natural Resources and Violent Conflict: Options and Actions (The World Bank, 2003).
24. United States Agency for International Development (USAID), "Land and Conflict," (Washington, D.C.: USAID, 2004), 2.
25. United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), "From Conflict to Peacebuilding: The Role of Natural Resources and Environment," WGLL/2008/10 (New York: Peacebuilding Commission Working Group on Lessons Learned, May 8, 2008).
26. Ibid.
27. Mustafa Babiker, "Communal Land Rights and Peace-building in North Kordofan: Policy and Legislative Challenges," Sudan Working Paper SWP 2008:3 (Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute, 2008), 1; PBC, "Environment, Conflict and Peacebuilding," (concept note, New York: Peacebuilding Commission, May 8, 2008).
28. USAID, "Land and Conflict," 2.
29. Ibid., 3.
30. Ibid., 4.
31. PBC, "From Conflict to Peacebuilding: The Role of Natural Resources and Environment."
32. Ibid.
33. Ibid.
34. Ibid.
35. Babiker, "Communal Land Rights and Peace-building in North Kordofan," 1.
36. Ibid.
37. Ibid.
38. USAID, "Land and Conflict," 8-11.
39. Global Policy Forum, "Water in Conflict," Global Policy Forum.
40. Upmanu Lall, et al., "Water in the 21st Century: Defining the Elements of Global Crisis and Potential Solutions," International Affairs, 61, no. 2 (Spring/Summer 2008): 1.
41. CECORE and Saferworld, "Water Provision as a Peacebuilding Tool: Developing a conflict-sensitive Approach to Water Delivery in Uganda" (London: CECORE and Saferworld, June 2008), 1.
42. Development Assistance Committee (DAC), "Issues Brief: Water and Violent Conflict" (Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2005), 2.
43. Ibid., 1.
44. Ibid.
45. Aaron T. Wolf, "Water and Human Security," Aviso, Issue number 3, June 1999.
46. Upmanu Lall, et al., "Water in the 21st Century: Defining the Elements of Global Crisis and Potential Solutions," 2.
47. Ibid.
48. Ibid.
49. CECORE and Saferworld, "Water Provision as a Peacebuilding Tool: Developing a conflict-sensitive Approach to Water Delivery in Uganda," Executive Summary.
50. DAC, "Issues Brief: Water and Violent Conflict" 2.
51. Ibid., 5-6.
52. Rutgerd Boelens, "From Universal Prescriptions to Living Rights: Local and Indigenous Water Rights Confront Public-Private Partnerships in the Andes," Journal of International Affairs, 61, no. 2, (Spring/Summer 2008).
53. CECORE and Saferworld, "Water Provision as a Peacebuilding Tool: Developing a conflict-sensitive Approach to Water Delivery in Uganda," 1.
54. DAC, "Issues Brief: Water and Violent Conflict" 1.
55. United Nations Peacebuilding Commission, "Environment, Conflict and Peacebuilding," (concept note, New York: Peacebuilding Commission, May 8, 2008).
56. Ibid.
57. Ibid.
58. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), "Understanding Environment, Conflict and Cooperation," (Nairobi: UNEP, Division of Early Warning and Assessment, 2004).
59. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), "Understanding Environment, Conflict and Cooperation," (Nairobi: UNEP, Division of Early Warning and Assessment, 2004).
60. United Nations Peacebuilding Commission, "Environment, Conflict and Peacebuilding."
61. Christos N. Kyrou, "Peace Ecology: An Emerging Paradigm in Peace Studies," International Journal of Peace Studies, 12, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 2007).

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