6 November 2014: The Environmental Peacebuilding Global Knowledge Platform celebrated its first anniversary and marked the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict. The platform, inter alia, hosts more than 1000 related publications books, articles and teaching curricula from over 100 countries, offers action-oriented insights from practitioners in the field, and collates information and news articles on the role of natural resources, climate change and other environmental factors linked to conflict.

UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said the platform provides practical solutions and real-time guidance on how to improve peacebuilding through more effective natural resource management.

UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon, in a statement on the occasion of the International Day, said that the “environment has long been a silent casualty of war and armed conflict.” He said the issues of poverty, vulnerability to climate shocks, ethnic marginalization and the transparent, sustainable and equitable management of natural resources must be considered within and alongside peace agreements in order to build more resilient and prosperous societies. He called for developing solutions that involve local communities and build on “our collective knowledge to advance good stewardship of the environment” as an integral part of peacebuilding and sustainable development.

The Platform was launched by the Environmental Law Institute, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the University of Tokyo (Japan) and McGill University (Canada) to make the latest information, experiences and tools on environmental peacebuilding publicly available. The International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict was first marked in 2001. [UNEP Press Release][ECLAC Press Release][Environmental Peacebuilding Global Knowledge Platform Website][International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict]