Peace and Environment
Peace and environment are related in that they both have an impact on each other. Peace is guaranteed in comfortable environments while the environment is destroyed when peace is compromised. In most cases, peace and the environment can be treated as separate topics. However, the issues are related in several ways and hence the need to discuss them together. The primary relationship between peace and environment is the impact caused both by economic factors. An incompatibility grows between peace, environment, and unfavorable economic conditions. The human race thrives under the promise of a right to have peace as well as a sustainable environment. However, continuous conflicts and environmental exploitation remains to be a challenge facing the human race. Peace and environment are related in that the compromise of one could significantly impact the other, with economic inconveniences falling in the middle of the relationship.
Several researchers have addressed the topics of peace and environment. Some researchers have focused on giving the difference between the two topics, while others have been keen on showing the relationship. Generally, the researchers have been conforming to a similar conclusion that the two topics are interrelated. The findings of some researchers have formed the basis of the study herein and have been discussed.
The desire to learn the source of chocolate forced Carol Off to travel to Africa. The Canadian journalist had heard about the famous cocoa plant from Cote de’ Ivoire, although the journalist had not set an eye on the original form of the plant (Off, 2016). The journey to Cote de ’Ivoire brought mixed feelings to Carol Off after realizing the gap that existed between the producers and consumers of cocoa products. The first issue that Off noticed was the lack of schools hence education for the people of West Africa. Children were obsessed with the growing of cocoa in West Africa instead of being in school. Carol agrees that the people she met were tired and weary and only needed the benefits associated with cocoa. Generally, Off related the people of Cote de ‘Ivoire as cultivators of food to be eaten by the kings while the farmers stayed several miles from the paradise.
In the year 2018, Amster researched the relationship between environmental issues and conflicts. Also, the impact of environment on conflict resolutions was covered. According to Amster (2018), a universal relationship between environment and peace has not been established although it exists. Besides, fights on equality on the sharing of natural resources prove that environment holds a firm position in the determination of peace. The article offers additional information required in the study of environment and peace.
Gleditsch’s article of 2015 on “Armed conflict and the environment” gives several conclusions on the impact of peace on environment. According to Gleditsch, the environment suffers when peace is not kept. The impact on environment could either from direct destruction or side effects such as over-exploitation in preparation for wars. On the other hand, the researcher claims that environmental degradation leads to less natural resources hence more conflicts. Generally, the relationship between environment and peace is treated as a cycle. Moreover, the motivation is obtained from the existing gap in information concerning the relationship between peace and environment.
Peace and environment are not only related by their impact on each other but also by the factors affecting each phenomenon. For example, demographic factors harm both peace an environment (Hosgelen & Saikia, 2016). According to Hosgelen and Saikia, the population increase leas to more conflict as well as the destruction of the environment. Environment degradation from a high population growth rate eventually leads to peace disruptions with communities fighting to control essential natural resources. Therefore, the relationship between environment and peace ranges from their interrelationships to the factors affecting each phenomenon.
The world is in the middle of a demographic transformation. The increase in population in various parts of the world is leading to serious exploitation of the environment. Unfortunately, conflicts have become the norm of the day, with people fight to dominate the exploitation ability of the environment (Amster, 2018). Conflicts have come up in the attempt of people to acquire natural resources such as water. The leading cause of such disputes is the growth of populations beyond the capacity that the environment can support. When environmental degradation happens, cultural rifts occur with communities fighting over the few remaining resources. On the other hand, conflicts leading to compromise of peace may lead to environmental degradation. Therefore, the lack of peace may lead to environmental degradation, while environmental degradation may lead to a lack of peace.
Ethnic conflicts are on the rise owing to the struggle for limited natural resources. The environment is always a balance in a way that the natural resources are distributed according to the processes that nature needs to be balanced. However, communities attempt to have all the resources to avoid the struggle of exchanging what they already have with other communities (Off, 2016). The need for more resources creates conflicts, and eventually, peace is lost. The realization of the idea of profits can be associated with the rise in disputes. Communities attempt to own as much of the exploitable resources as possible so that they can benefit from the benefits associated. Generally, conflicts are known to disturb the peace as well as leading to environmental degradation.
The gap between the economic ability of communities is responsible for social injustices. Communities with established economic systems continue to exploit the less advantaged communities for their natural resources. When Carol Off visited west Africa, she was shocked by the state of affairs (Off, 2016). Initially, Carol Off was used to consuming chocolate bars without a knowledge of the primary producers of the main ingredient: Cocoa. The information that Off had concerning Cote de ‘Ivoire was that cocoa was treated like gold in the region. However, the sad situation of the leading producers of cocoa revealed the gap that existed between the producers and consumers. Children from Cote de ‘Ivoire did not have an idea of the taste of a chocolate bar and where only expected to work in the cocoa plantations. Moreover, plantations employed children at the expense of educating them. Carol Off viewed the cocoa case as an instance of injustice caused by different environments.
Natural resources are not equally distributed, and historical conflicts have been emanating into disputes. The existence of valuable but limited natural resources causes tension between communities (Off, 2016). Tensions lead to a further decline in limited resources; hence, conflicts grow further. For example, herders could be involved in disputes over land. The main reason for the disagreements is pasture for cattle. The conflicts may escalate into fights, which lead to the burning of property as well as pasture. The result is that pasture is destroyed and land rendered low quality. Generally, limited natural resources and inequitable natural resources are the leading cause of conflict and disruption of peace.
Economic conditions impact the environment in a similar way to peace. The desire to accumulate wealth moves people into overexploitation and hence, degradation of the environment. On the other hand, the desire for wealth accumulation puts people into wrangles due to unhealthy competition. The intensity of natural exploitation and sophistication of violent conflicts reflects a society that has failed in maintaining peace while managing the environment. The attempts by international communities to uphold the right to the peaceful and sustainable environment have proved void amid the continued wrangles. The promise and guarantee for the right to peace and sustenance have appeared insufficient because the factors behind the disruption of peace and environmental degradation are beyond human control.
Historical disruptions in peace have ended up in environmental destruction. Violent conflicts involve the use of weapons and frequently lead to natural disasters. The impact of natural disasters hits the environment with unprecedented damage. Some of the natural disasters caused by warfare are forest fires and contamination of water bodies. For example, the destruction from wildfires claims the lives of animals and vegetation leading to massive environmental degradation. Also, most weaponry used in warfare emits dangerous chemicals that are responsible for the contamination of water bodies. Pollution has adverse impacts both on animals and vegetation. Generally, the lack of peace impacts environment significantly if warfare breaks out.
Environment plays a crucial role in conflict resolution. The idea of conflict resolution comes in when parties realize that war cannot provide solutions. The role of environment can be direct or indirect depending on whether the parties involved are concerned with environment. First, the desire to conserve the environment can compel conflicting parties to find peaceful solutions to their conflicts (Spring, 2019). On the other hand, the consequences of environmental degradation may force conflicting parties to reevaluate their strategies. For example, the contamination of river bodies may leave communities without safe water. The suffering caused by lack of water may force communities to surrender violent conflicts to concentrate on finding safe water. Therefore, peace and environment act as balancing powers.
The sustainable environment could, however, harm the prevalence of peace. The current order in the world is motivated by accepting the fact that some communities are superior to others. However, a slight change to that mentality could lead to unspeakable conflicts (Off, 2016). For example, if sustainable environments motivated the inferior communities, they would probably attempt to overthrow the superior communities and lead to conflicts. Moreover, communities would have more resources to invest in warfare if environment provided sufficient resources. The balance that exists is attributed to the fact that communities are busy looking for ways of sustaining their people instead of looking for resources to invest in warfare. Generally, the presence of environment sustenance would prompt communities into looking for better ways of moving on top of other communities hence more conflicts.
The need for economic growth has called for unexpected conditions that nations have decided to take. Although clear documentation does not exist, nations have been seen to sacrifice peace in the presence of a sustainable environment to develop their economies (Amster, 2018). When peace is lost, nations strengthen their strategies of remaining strong amid several threats of possible warfare. When nations start building their armies, those with a sustainable environment use the opportunity to improve trade as well as growing their economies. Therefore, lack of peace may have a positive impact on economies when environment is sustainable. Generally, environment does not rely entirely on peace to impact the economy of nations positively — Moreover, the attempts to promote peace work to the advantage of the environment as well.
The efforts to promote peace appear to work towards the benefit of the environment. Some of the attempts involve active discussions that touch on the wider impacts of lack of peace. For example, the efforts may involve bringing to an end, warfare activities that had been leading to the destruction of environment (Amster, 2018). Such attempts stop the activities leading to environmental degradation while promoting peace. Also, economic sanctions may be used to force countries to continue with peace-threatening activities. The sanctions aim at making the misbehaving countries, economically weaker. When the sanctions provide the expected outcome, the countries no longer have powers to continue with threatening activities. Generally, peace-keeping activities mostly provide positive results in attempts to protect the environment. Moreover, the benefits of heightened peace and a sustainable environment are similar.
The benefits of peace are similar to those of a sustainable environment. However, the enjoyment of a sustainable environment makes sense where peace is prioritized. A peaceful environment allows society to engage in development activities with composure and confidence. The economy grows faster where peace an environment provides favorable conditions. Generally, peace and environment provide the playing ground for development activities for communities (Off, 2016). Besides, if all the resources are directed to development, society will enjoy more benefits than when resources are exploited to cover costs of war and conflict resolutions. Moreover, peace paves a way of improving the environment so that both phenomena can coexist. On the other hand, sustainable may help in the existence of peace. Therefore, both phenomena pave the way for the growth of each other to coexist. Environment leads to the division of communities among cultural, which in return creates ways of peace-keeping.
The cultural practices of people are impacted by the environment within which they live. Therefore, different environments lead to different cultures. For example, people living in areas with good pastures tend to become pastoralists. On the other hand, people in highlands tend to become crop farmers. The cultural activities impact the peace where people from different cultures attempt to assist each other in improvising survival techniques (Hosgelen & Saikia, 2016). For example, pastoralists may become friends with crop farmers for the interchange of the products they offer. Pastoralists supply crop farmers with manure while crop farmers provide animal feeds. Generally, cohesion is strengthened where environment conditions favor the interaction of people from different cultural backgrounds.
Information on the relationship between peace and environment is essential in the development of policies to govern both phenomena. When people know how peace impacts the conservation of environment, peace will become a priority for environment-lovers (Gleditsch, 2015). Similarly, peacekeepers will know the role played by environment in the maintenance of peace. Moreover, the benefits of keeping peace and a sustainable environment will make people, sensitive attempts to compromise peace and environment. Therefore, the responsibility of keeping the peace will be left at the hands of the people. Generally, peace and environment play similar roles in the lives of people and should, therefore, be given equal attention.
In sum, peace and environment are related in that the compromise of one could significantly impact the other, with economic inconveniences falling in the middle of the relationship. The lack of peace may lead to environmental degradation, while environmental degradation may lead to a lack of peace. The promise and guarantee for the right to peace and sustenance have appeared insufficient because the factors behind the disruption of peace and environmental degradation are beyond human control. The presence of environment sustenance would prompt communities into looking for better ways of moving on top of other communities hence more conflicts. The limited natural resources and inequitable natural resources are the main cause of conflict and disruption of peace. The attention given to the environment should be given equally to peace so that societies can be kept at balance. Generally, the benefits of improving peace in an area are enjoyed similarly if environment is managed to satisfaction.
References
Amster, R. E. (2018). Environment, climate change, and peace. In Routledge Handbook of Environmental Conflict and Peacebuilding (Vol. 73, No. 82, pp. 73-82). ROUTLEDGE in association with GSE Research.
Gleditsch, N. P. (2015). Armed conflict and the environment. In Nils Petter Gleditsch: Pioneer in the Analysis of War and Peace (pp. 81-103). Springer, Cham.
Hosgelen, M., & Saikia, U. (2016). Timor‐Leste’s demographic challenges for environment, peace and nation building. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 57(2), 244-262.
Off, C. (2016). Bitter chocolate: Investigating the dark side of the world’s most seductive sweet. Univ. of Queensland Press.
Spring, Ú. O. (2019). Sustainable development and peace. In Úrsula Oswald Spring: Pioneer on Gender, Peace, Development, Environment, Food and Water (pp. 296-323). Springer, Cham.