Health and ecological impacts of conflict (Statement supported by the IES)

In 2023, discussions were underway on the future of the Science-Policy Panel on Pollution. With the scope of the panel still very much open to debate in the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), the Conflict & Environment Observatory (CEOBS) wrote to UNEA to make the case that it should be open to considering the health and ecological impact of conflict pollution and the toxic remnants of war.

These often forgotten consequences of the devastation of war have serious implications long after any ceasefire is signed, so CEOBS argued that they should be in scope for consideration by the panel.

The IES lent its support to the letter, agreeing with the argument that the highest levels of environmental expertise on pollution, chemicals, and waste should be open to considering the implications of conflict for human health and environmental degradation.

Read the full letter below to learn more about the case for considering the environmental impacts of conflict.

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