Optimist - in this issue

The SUMMER 2006 issue of The Optimist focused on the links between the environment and conflict, exploring the ecological triggers of violence, post-war development challenges, and ways in which to harness nature’s peacemaking power. Resonating throughout the magazine was the message that sustainable development, which respects all people and nature, is the real frontline of the battle for enduring and genuine peace. The Optimist looked at conflicts as far a field as Aceh, Chechnya, Darfur and Nepal, examining how natural resources and other key environmental factors both can play a role in exacerbating tensions and are crucial to post-conflict rehabilitation. Important developments in the last few months invite us to revisit some of the regions and challenges covered in our last issue.

Water is central to analyzing the links between nature and the terrible conflict in Lebanon in July and August this year. On one hand, the water resources and services have been severely damaged; and on the other hand it is widely thought that gaining access to the Litani River was one motivation for the invasion of southern Lebanon by water-short Israel.

The article by members of UNEP’s Post-Conflict Branch in the last issue of The Optimist identified three main ways in which conflicts impact on the environment: chemical contamination; impacts of human displacement; and the breakdown of natural resources management systems. All three of these impacts must now be addressed in Lebanon. On 3 October, a team led by UNEP and working in close cooperation with the Lebanese authorities, began visiting and sampling sites thought to present potential risks to human health and the wider environment. These include the Jiyyeh thermal power plant, which discharged an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 tons of oil contaminating 140 km of Mediterranean coastline, and Beirut International Airport. Lebanese authorities say the damage is so severe it could take a decade for the environment to fully recover. Green Cross International, which has experience in post-war environmental assessment in Kuwait and the former USSR, is in discussion with UNEP regarding its involvement in the program. Tackling problems like unexploded ordinance, polluted water supplies and damaged sewage works are vital to enabling populations to return home and resume their lives.

UNEP’s Executive Director, Achim Steiner, said: “There is an urgent need to assess the environmental legacy of the recent conflict and put in place a comprehensive clean-up of polluted and health-hazardous sites. … Once the hard facts are known and the hot spots pin-pointed, I would urge the international community to back the findings as part of the reconstruction effort for Lebanon and its people.”

On 16 August the people of Aceh celebrated the one-year anniversary of the peace pact between the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which brought decades of bloody conflict to an end. As was reported in the article by the WorldWatch Institute’s Michael Renner in The Optimist, the “silver lining” behind the ferocious 2004 tsunami – that killed 170,000 people in the province – was the unleashing of a strong popular desire for peace. Although optimistic for the future, Renner’s article warned that post-disaster peacemaking must seize the –often brief – window of opportunity when humanitarian impulses are strong, and requires strong political commitment to overcome hurdles.

And there remain serious hurdles in Aceh, including GAM’s anger over Jakarta’s insistence that natural resources revenues are collected by central government then returned to Aceh, concerns about the rights of women, and frustrations over the reconstruction process. The EU/ASEAN monitoring mission has extended its stay until after the first direct elections in December. Especially in view of the recent problems in East Timor, as Kofi Annan has insisted: “It would be tragic if, after coming so far, any party in Aceh resorted to violence or coercion. … The people of Aceh want to live without fear, and to build their future within a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Indonesia. Let us show that peace in Aceh is finally here to stay.”

The article “Surviving in a Changing World”, by Anne Hammil and Richard Matthew of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, drew attention to the environmental and demographic factors behind the brutal conflict in Darfur. Citing a combination of desertification exacerbated by climate change and rapid population growth, the article showed it is possible to view the conflict as a clash over food and water. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour reported in September that, despite the May peace accord, the situation in Darfur has worsened steadily, with human rights abuses being committed on a large scale. In August, a UN resolution called for intervention, but the Sudanese Government is resisting pressure to allow UN peacekeeping troops to protect civilians. On 17 September, hundreds of thousands of people in 32 countries showed their solidarity in a Global Day for Darfur. Meanwhile, aid agencies active in the region are overstretched and, as well as the constant threat of violence, people are dying for want of basic food, water and healthcare.The links between nature, war and peace were also high on the agenda at the Brisbane Earth Dialogues in July, read the Brisbane Appeal for Sustainable Peace on page 56.