Published By:
(ISSN 2564-016X; CODEN: JELPBQ; DOI: 10.33002/jelp) is an international, scientific double blind peer-reviewed open access journal published 3 times a year online by The Grassroots Institute.
Open Access—free for readers, with article processing charges (APC) paid by authors or their institutions.
High Visibility: Indexed in SCOPUS, EBSCO and HEIN. Indexing is proposed in the WoS and other databases.
Fast Publication: Provisional acceptance to the submitted article is given in 1 week time. After consent of author(s), manuscript is peer-reviewed, and a first decision provided to authors in 2-4 weeks after submission.
Recognition of Reviewers: The reviewers who provide timely, thorough peer-review reports receive vouchers entitling them to a discount on the APC of their next publication in the journal, in appreciation of the work done. Reviewers also receive Certificate for their voluntary service.
Journal of Environmental Law and Policy is an international, interdisciplinary journal that facilitates an understanding of environmental governance, policy and law issues not only by drawing upon and contributing to the environmental social sciences, but also linking the ecosystem health, natural resources, and social sciences. The aim of the journal is to promote communication among academia, government, business and industry, civil society groups, citizens’ action groups, and non-governmental organizations who are instrumental in the solving of environmental problems and grassroots level issues.
Theresa Uzoamaka Akpoghome*
Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, Benson Idahosa University, Benin City, Nigeria.
E-mail: teremajor@gmail.com, takpoghome@biu.edu.ng | ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9296-0134
Nkechinyere Huomachi Worluh-Okolie
Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, Benson Idahosa University, Benin City, Nigeria.
E-mail: nworluh-okolie@biu.edu.ng, nkechiworluhokolie@gmail.com | ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-6794-7468
*Corresponding author
(2024) 04 (02) Journal of Environmental Law and Policy 47-70 https://doi.org/10.33002/jelp040202
Received: 28 June 2024
Accepted: 31 July 2024
Reviewed: 18 July 2024
Published: 15 August 2024
Revised: 29 July 2024
No. of Views:
No. of Paper Downloads:
Environmental protection in times of armed conflict has raised serious concerns to the global community due to its devastating impact; therefore, the need to protect the environment cannot be over-emphasized. The environment has remained the silent victim of armed conflict and damages caused to it either as a victim as seen in IsraelHamas crises or as a weapon as seen in Vietnam is tremendous. It is in view of this that this paper examines the protection of the environment under International Humanitarian Law (IHL) regime. The paper adopts the doctrinal approach and examines the existing relevant provisions of the laws, rules, guidelines and policies on armed conflict protecting the environment. The paper finds that there are rules protecting the environment directly in times of armed conflict but the challenge is that these rules have imprecise provisions in addition to having very high threshold of applicability. Due to these, they have never been successfully applied in protecting the environment against real war time environmental damages. Some other existing rules protect the environment indirectly. The ICRC Updated Guidelines of 2020 on environmental protection in times of armed conflict offers valuable interpretative resource to the existing grey areas of the law. It also sheds light on the contributions and impacts of weapons and armed conflict to climate change. The paper recommends the adoption and implementation of the 2020 Guidelines by all States Parties to the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols. It further recommends that States should endeavour to respect and ensure respect of rules on environmental protection in armed conflict situations. This is a due diligence requirement on all parties. The paper concludes that the duty to protect the environment is a responsibility on all.
Keywords: Protection; Environment; Armed conflict; Responsibility; Guidelines; Distinction
Alok Jha, ‘Climate Threats from Nuclear Bombs’, (2006) The Guardian,
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/dec/12/nuclearindustry.climatechange/> accessed 27 June 2024
Antoine Bouvier, ‘Protection of the National Environment in time of Armed Conflict, (1991) 285
International Review of the Red Cross, <https://www.icrc.org/eng/doc/resources/documents/ article/otter/57jmau.htm> accessed November 7, 2023
Asad Maryam, ‘Environmental Impacts of Nuclear Weapons’, (2023) (DLP Forum, July 10,
2023), <https://www.dlpforum.org/2023/07/environmenal-impacts-of-nuclear-weapons/> accessed 26 June, 2024
Ashton Nigel John, ‘Review of the Gulf War’ (1995) 2 (1) War in History 105–112.
First post, ‘How Israel-Hamas War is turning Gaza into an Environmental Hazard’ (2023) (First
Post, October 20, 2023), <https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/Israel-hamas-war-bodies-rotting-dangerous-chemicals-environmental-hazards-gaza-strip-13276482.html/amp> accessed 7 November 2023
Henckaerts and Doswald-Beck (eds), ‘Study on Customary International Humanitarian Law’,
(2016) 1, Commentary on Rule 144, Geneva Convention, para 120-121 and 155-156
ICRC, ‘Guidelines on the Protection of the Natural Environment in Armed Conflict’ (2020)
<https:///www.icrc.org/en/punlications/4382-guidelines-protection-natural-environment-armed-conflict/> accessed 10 October 2023
ICRC, ‘What is International Humanitarian Law’
<https://www.icrc.org/en/download/file/240610/what_is_ihl.pdf> accessed 3 December 2023
ICRC, “1972 Convention on the Prohibition of Biological Weapons” (21 May 2021)
<https://www.icrc.org/en/document/1972-convention-prohibition-bacteriological-weapons-and-their-destruction-factsheet> accessed 16 December 2023
ICRC, Guideline on the Protection of the National Environment in Armed Conflict: Rule and
Recommendations Relating to the Protection of the Natural Environment under International Humanitarian Law, with Commentary (ICRC: Geneva, 2020) hereinafter 2020 ICRC guideline.
Ira Helfand, ‘Nuclear Famine: A Billion People at Risk’, (2012) Physicians for the Prevention of
Nuclear War and Physicians for Social Responsibility, International Press, Somerville, MA,
<https://www.dlpforum.org/2023/07/environmenal-impacts-of-nuclear-weapons/> accessed 26 June, 2024
Lesia Bakalets ‘Silent Victim: Environmental Damages from Russia Ukraine War Totals $ 56
Billion” (2023) (VOA News, November 6, 2023), <https:///www.voanews.comamp/silent-victim-environment-damage-from-russia-ukarine-war-total-56-billion-/7344160.html> accessed 5 November 2023
Meenakshi V. Rai, FAUSA, & ACIW Mumbai, “The Impact of War on our Natural
Environment’ (2022) (FAWCO, June 27, 2022), <https://www.fawco.org/global-issues/environment/environment-articles/4767-impact-of-war-on-our-natural-environment/> accessed 7 November 2023
National Academies Press, ‘Effects of Nuclear Earth-Penetrator and Other Weapons: Human
and Environmental Effects’, (2005) Chapter 8 <https://www.nap.nationalacademies.org/read/11282/chapter/8/> accessed 26 June 2024
Pictet, J. (ed.), ‘Commentary on the First Geneva Convention’, (1952) 26.
Raphael Van-Steenberghe, ‘The Interplay between International Humanitarian Law and
International Environment Law: Towards a Comprehensive Framework for seller protection of the environment in Armed Conflict’, (2022) (20) (155) Journal of International Criminal Justice 1123-1154. <https://doi.org/10.1093/jicj/mqac062>
Tommy T.B. Koh, ‘A constitute for the ocean remarks of the president of the third united Nation
conference on the law of the seas’, (1982) Geneva.
Venessa Murphy and Helen Obregon Guesekan, ‘ICRC Humanitarian Law and Policy Blog:
Fighting without a plant B’ (2021) How IHL Protects the National Environment in Armed Conflict (25 May 2021). <https:///www.reliefforest.nt/report/world/icrc-humanitarian-law-policy-blog-fighting-without-plant-b-how-ihl-protects-natural-environment-in-armed-conflict/> accessed September 25, 2023
Vonekey, S., ‘Peacetime Environment Law as bases of state responsibility for environment
consequences of war’ in Legal Economic and Scientific Perspectives (Cambridge: Cambridge university press, 2000) 39
Theresa Uzoamaka Akpoghome, & Nkechinyere Huomachi Worluh-Okolie, ‘Protection of the Environment under International Humanitarian Law Regime: Challenges and Way Forward’ (2024) 04 (02) Journal of Environmental Law & Policy 47-70, https://doi.org/10.33002/jelp040202
Akpoghome, T.U. and Worluh-Okolie, N.H. (2024). Protection of the Environment under International Humanitarian Law Regime: Challenges and Way Forward. Journal of Environmental Law and Policy, 04(02): 47-70. Doi: https://doi.org/10.33002/jelp040202
Akpoghome, T. U., & Worluh-Okolie, N. H. (2024). Protection of the Environment under International Humanitarian Law Regime: Challenges and Way Forward. Journal of Environmental Law and Policy, 04(02), 47-70. https://doi.org/10.33002/jelp040202
Akpoghome T. U., Worluh-Okolie, N. H. Protection of the Environment under International Humanitarian Law Regime: Challenges and Way Forward. Journal of Environmental Law and Policy, 2024, 04 (02), 47-70. https://doi.org/10.33002/jelp040202
Akpoghome, Theresa Uzoamaka, Worluh-Okolie, Nkechinyere Huomachi. 2024. “Protection of the Environment under International Humanitarian Law Regime: Challenges and Way Forward”. Journal of Environmental Law and Policy, 04 no. 02: 47-70. https://doi.org/10.33002/jelp040202
Akpoghome, Theresa Uzoamaka and Nkechinyere Huomachi Worluh-Okolie. 2024. “Protection of the Environment under International Humanitarian Law Regime: Challenges and Way Forward”. Journal of Environmental Law and Policy, 04 (02): 47-70. https://doi.org/10.33002/jelp040202
| Crossref: | https://doi.org/10.33002/jelp040202 |
| Scilit: | |
| SSRN: | |
| Academia.edu: | |
| ZENODO: | |
| OpenAIRE: | |
| Scribd: | |
| Publons: | |
| EuroPub: | |
| DRJI: | |
| Cite Factor: | |
| Dimensions: | |
| ScienceGate: | |
| J-Gate: | |
| Research Gate: | |
| Google Scholar: | |
| Harvard Dataverse: |
| Internet Archive: | |
| WorldCat: |
© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee Journal of Environmental Law and Policy. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). We allow to freely share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially) with a legal code: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
Journal of Environmental Law and Policy by The Grassroots Institute is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License based on a work at www.grassrootsjournals.org.
In Partnership with
In Collaboration with
Go to Top
