Protecting the Environment is Protecting Civilians, key take-aways

In conflict zones across the globe, civilians continue to suffer the devastating environmental consequences of armed conflicts, which directly and indirectly affect their health, safety, and livelihoods, as underscored in the report. It was therefore significant that, during both the PoC debate and the related Arria-formula meeting on the protection of freshwater resources and water infrastructure, numerous Member States acknowledged the growing environmental and climate threats to civilians. Yet, to translate these acknowledgments into action, Member States must commit to concrete policy measures that address the environment-conflict nexus as an important pillar of civilian protection.

Highlights from the UN Secretary-General’s 2025 PoC report

The UN Secretary-General’s 2025 PoC report for the seventh consecutive year spotlighted the environmental dimensions of conflict and their impact on people’s health, livelihoods, and ecosystems in a number of conflict contexts, including Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, the Central African Republic, and elsewhere. The report drew attention to wide-ranging contamination from attacks on industrial and fuel infrastructure sites, including strikes on tankers and cargo vessels in the Red Sea. It highlighted the problem of massive volumes of hazardous debris generated by bombing of residential areas, as well as issues around solid waste pollution, large-scale deforestation, and long-term soil and water pollution. Building on its policy recommendations from the 2024 PoC report, the new Secretary-General’s report reiterated the need to establish a crime of ecocide at the international level.

Amid growing concerns about food insecurity and water scarcity in numerous conflict areas, the report paid close attention to the dire impacts of conflict-linked destruction of civilian environmental infrastructure, such as agricultural assets and water sources and infrastructure. As noted in the report, the destruction of dams, water treatment plants, and water distribution infrastructure in Sudan, Gaza, and Syria has left millions of people without access to safe drinking water and exposed them to the risk of waterborne diseases. In conflict contexts such as Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, and Syria, agricultural land and crops were destroyed by the fighting or contaminated with explosive remnants of war, disrupting farming activities, fostering displacement, and undermining food availability for civilians. The report further emphasized how climate change, with extreme weather events such as floods and droughts, compounds the devastating effects of conflict on civilians, citing examples from Cameroon, Chad, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia, and Syria, among others.

By highlighting these environmental and climate threats among the factors that exacerbate civilian harm in armed conflicts, the UN Secretary-General reiterated his calls for a more comprehensive approach to civilian protection. This includes addressing longer-term direct and reverberating impacts on civilians, including conflict-linked environmental contamination, through the integration of public health, human rights, and environmental considerations. In this regard, the Secretary-General commended collaborative initiatives aimed at the full protection of civilians, including the Political Declaration on the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (EWIPA), which PAX has been actively supporting, or the Global Alliance to Spare Water from Armed Conflicts, of which PAX is a member.

Environmental and climate considerations in Member States’ interventions

Many Member States echoed the Secretary-General’s appeal for a full civilian protection and evoked the intersection of armed conflict, environmental degradation, and the climate crisis in their statements during the PoC debate. A number of States spoke against the weaponization of the environment in armed conflict, with a focus on water resources and infrastructure. The members of the Global Alliance to Spare Water from Armed Conflict, including the Philippines, Slovenia, Viet Nam, Panama, Switzerland, as well as other Member States – such as Chile, Somalia, and El Salvador – denounced attacks on water, food, and energy systems, and called for stronger protection of critical civilian infrastructure. El Salvador, in particular, expressed concern over the worsening of the environment in armed conflict, the destruction of ecosystems and the use of natural resources as a tactic of war. Greece, Guyana, Sierra Leone, and Switzerland highlighted how climate change and natural disasters exacerbate the vulnerability of civilians in conflict settings, including their effects on food insecurity, voicing those concerns also in the joint media statement by nine States. Several Member States – such as Pakistan and Azerbaijan – referenced the harmful environmental consequences of specific regional conflicts, including pollution and landmine contamination, while others – for instance, Kyrgyzstan – advocated for preventive diplomacy to resolve disputes over shared natural resources.

Besides the PoC debate, over 45 Member States delivered statements at the UNSC Arria-formula meeting on the protection of freshwater resources and related infrastructure, convened by Slovenia in cooperation with Algeria, Panama, Sierra Leone, and the Global Alliance to Spare Water from Armed Conflicts on May 23. States and UN agencies underscored the vital role of water in civilian survival, peacebuilding, and environmental resilience, especially amid the rising climate pressures. Delegates condemned the deliberate targeting and destruction of water infrastructure that comes with grave consequences for public health and the environment, as witnessed in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, and Syria, and urged to uphold international humanitarian law (IHL) provisions to prevent water from being weaponized or politicized.

Participants stressed the urgency of operationalizing protection measures and strengthening international cooperation around water. Several delegations – such as Portugal, Korea, Guyana, and Bulgaria – called for improved monitoring, documentation, and accountability mechanisms, including the potential use of satellite and drone technology to assess damage and support rapid response. Many advocated for the integration of water concerns into peacekeeping mandates, early warning systems, and climate-sensitive conflict prevention strategies. Delegates emphasized the need for post-conflict reconstruction of water and sanitation infrastructure and greater investment in water resilience. Several Member States, including Greece and the Philippines, called for systemic integration and streamlining of water protection – as well as broader environmental and climate issues – into the agenda of the UNSC and other international forums.