Across the globe, armed conflicts are intensifying, with acute and long-term consequences for human health and the ecosystems we all depend on. Over the last decade, the visibility of environmental dimensions of conflicts has grown due to improved use of earth observation and open-source documentation. The insights from these innovative research methods support building a robust Environment, Peace and Security agenda, driving improved legal protection and accountability, progressive policy change and reconstruction efforts.
2025 has witnessed continued devastating environmental damage from armed conflicts. Attacks on shipping routes in the Red Sea have caused widespread marine pollution, while strikes on oil facilities in Sudan have resulted in massive burning of fossil fuels. Russia continued bombarding Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, and Israel’s destruction of Gaza razed nearly all of its agricultural areas, whilst creating over 60 million tons of conflict debris. These are just a handful and the most visible environmental impacts of war occurring in 2025, with reverberating effects in many other areas requiring more in-depth investigations.It remains essential to continue monitoring and to respond to these impacts to protect civilians and the environment.
Marking November 6, NASA Lifelines programme released a short documentary spotlighting PAX’s use of satellite data to expose environmental harms from war and translate those insights into evidence-based advocacy. PAX collaborates with NASA as one of their Humanitarian Wayfinders to build a strong network of humanitarians, environmentalists, remote sensing specialists, and partners from conflict-affected countries.
After working for over a decade on documenting conflict-linked environmental damage in Iraq, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Yemen, and other conflict-affected contexts, we would like to highlight three main takeaways on the potential of evidence-based advocacy using earth observation technology to foster meaningful change in this field.
1.
The environment is no longer an invisible, silent victim of war
Through the innovative application of satellite imagery and open source data from conflict zones, we are now able to identify and monitor environmental damage from conflicts in near-real time. The findings and impactful visualisations of these analyses are essential for informing humanitarian operations, drawing media attention, fostering policy changes at the international level, and supporting (post-)conflict environmental assessments for green recovery and rehabilitation efforts.
The growing accessibility of earth observation tools and open data also enables civil society groups in conflict-affected areas to conduct their own monitoring, data collection and research-based advocacy. This is crucial for strengthening local ownership and ensuring that affected communities can bring their own evidence to international attention. PAX has been training groups in Iraq, Sudan and Syria to utilise these technologies in their important work.
2.
International recognition of the need to address the environmental dimension of armed conflict is growing
Within the UN, such developments as Security Council debates on the protection of civilians and protection of the environment, global initiatives directed at sheltering water infrastructure, and UN Environmental Assembly resolutions on environmental consequences of armed conflicts in conflict-affected areas underscore that ‘the environment’ now has a seat at the table and a voice in the peace and security debates.
Beyond the policy sphere, international legal momentum is also growing to strengthen environmental protections, including through International Humanitarian Law (IHL). This includes initiatives to safeguard protected nature areas from conflict-linked destruction and to address environmental impacts of naval warfare. Meanwhile, advocacy around recognising ‘ecocide’ in armed conflict is gaining traction, with institutions such as the ICC and ICJ increasingly referenced in that debate. Within the UN Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights highlighted concerns over the toxic legacy of military activities.
3.
New prospects for environmental recovery and peacebuilding are opening up
Understanding how war impacts the environment is essential for identifying solutions for addressing the damage, helping governments, international humanitarian and development agencies, and civil society to identify priority areas for clean-up, remediation, risk reduction, and restoration of ecosystems that support livelihoods, peace and stability. This also opens up opportunities for peacebuilding around environmental objectives, as evidenced by growing application of Nature-based Solutions for Peace and Security. These approaches not only help restore degraded landscapes and reduce resource-driven tensions but also provide donors and decision-makers with the data and tools needed to build back better and greener, and to strengthen resilience of the affected societies.
Read more on our work on Environment, Peace and Security and the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the environment in War and Armed Conflict
