Understanding the Relationship between Conflict, Security and the Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment

Started in May 2023

Context

Last year, in a landmark resolution, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly recognized the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. This development sat in parallel with a growing consensus that environmental rights abrogation can drive conflict and threaten peace and security.

Such evidence has evolved rapidly. Food and water insecurity for example have a particularly strong causal relationship with diminutions in safety and security and conflict protraction. Protection against climate change, environmental good governance and the promotion of the right to a healthy environment should thus be seen both as a tool of conflict prevention and key to conflict resolution and non-recidivism. Such causal relationships, however, have not been sufficiently integrated into multilateral policy debates and decision-making processes.

Objective

This project will develop guidance to inform security, human rights and environmental debates on the linkages between environmental rights and conflict, and how their better management can serve as a tool in conflict prevention, resilience and early warning.

Homing in on six country hotspots for environmental conflict spillovers, we will also identify entry points for engaging at the UN Human Rights Council and UN Security Council, as well as strategies to overcome challenges to policy uptake.

NEWS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

drought in Kenya News

Latest Research Brief Examines How Climate Impacts Place Kenyan Livelihoods Under Pressure

24 April 2024

This new Research Brief sets out how climate impacts are placing pastoralist livelihoods under increasing pressure in drought-affected areas of Kenya.

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food in a graph shape News

New Paper Examines How Environmental Damage Caused by Conflict Effects the Global Food System

18 April 2024

Our latest Research Brief examines the myriad consequences that accompany damage rendered upon food systems during armed conflict.

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dry marshland southern Iraq News

New Paper Explores How Climate Change, Violations of Environmental Human Rights and Conflict Coalesce

27 March 2024

Our latest Research Brief discusses the varied ways that climate change, violations of environmental human rights and conflict can coalesce and work in a mutually reinforcing manner.

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Publications

Cover Page of Research Brief

Unpacking the Climate Migration Extremism Nexus Mapping the Coping Strategies of Kenyan Pastorialists

April 2024

Erica Harper, Yosuke Nagai

Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights

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Cover Page of Research Brief

Unpacking the Burgeoning Challenge of Environmental Protection and the Right to Food in the Context of Armed Conflict

April 2024

Erica Harper, Junli Lim

Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights

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Cover Page of Research Brief

Navigating the Nexus: Climate Insecurity, Environmental Rights Violations and Conflict in Fragile Settings

March 2024

Erica Harper

Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights

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Cover Page of Research Brief

The Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment: Understanding its Scope, States Obligations and Links with Other Human Rights

March 2024

Christophe Golay, Baïna Ubushieva

Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights

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Cover Page of Research Brief

Environmental Human Rights as a Tool in Early Warning and Conflict Prevention The Role of the Human Rights Council

January 2024

Erica Harper, Baïna Ubushieva

Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights

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Cover Page of Research Brief

Policy Brief - Environmental Human Rights as a Tool in Early Warning and Conflict Prevention

January 2024

Baïna Ubushieva

Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights

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Cover page of the research brief

Climate Change in the Security Council: Obstacles, Opportunities, and Options

May 2023

Erica Harper, Adam Day

The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and the United Nations University

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MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

IHL in Focus Spot Report News

Spot Report – Water Crisis in War and Under Occupation: Current Israeli Policy and Practice in Occupied Palestinian Territory Under International Humanitarian Law

16 June 2025

The Geneva Academy has published a new spot report analysing Israeli policy and practice relating to water in the Occupied Palestinian Territory through the lens of IHL.

Read more

GHRP Ai for Good Workshop News

Exploring the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Human Rights Monitoring: Key Takeaways from the AI for Good Workshop

22 July 2025

Our event brought together human rights practitioners, data scientists, and AI experts to explore how artificial intelligence can support efforts to monitor human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Read more

Warzone Event

Advanced IHL Seminar for Academics and Policymakers

25-29 August 2025, 09:00-17:30

Co-hosted with the ICRC, this event aims to enhance the capacity of academics to teach and research international humanitarian law, while also equipping policymakers with an in-depth understanding of ongoing legal debates.

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Training

Human Rights and the Environment: Introducing Legal Regimes and Key Issues

1-8 September 2025

Participants in this training course will be introduced to the major international and regional instruments for the promotion of human rights, as well as international environmental law and its implementation and enforcement mechanisms.

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Open dump Training

Protecting Human Rights and the Environment

15-19 September 2025

Participants in this training course will gain practical insights into UN human rights mechanisms and their role in environmental protection and learn about how to address the interplay between international human rights and environmental law, and explore environmental litigation paths.

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A destroyed camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Khor Abeche, South Darfur, Project

Understanding the Relationship between Conflict, Security and the Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment

Started in May 2023

This project will develop guidance to inform security, human rights and environmental debates on the linkages between environmental rights and conflict, and how their better management can serve as a tool in conflict prevention, resilience and early warning.

Read more

Session of the UN Human Rights Committee Project

Treaty Body Review 2020 and Beyond

Started in January 2018

The Geneva Human Rights Platform contributes to this review process by providing expert input via different avenues, by facilitating dialogue on the review among various stakeholders, as well as by accompanying the development of a follow-up resolution to 68/268 in New York and in Geneva.

Read more

Cover of the 2023 Geneva Academy Annual Report Publication

Annual Report 2024

published on July 2025

Read more