Take Stock of Environmental Peacemaking at Twenty

Larry Swatuk, Professor in the University of Waterloos School of Environment, Enterprise and Development, said that environmental peacemaking is an intrinsically optimistic thing. Breakout sessionof the 2nd International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding. There are other ways to resolve disputes, make nice, build trustSwatuk stated that he can see these spaces closing in. There is a lot going on when it comes to sovereignty and resources. We ignore this at our peril. We need to rethink the peacemaking approach, given the unwillingness of states not to abandon classic statecraft.

The multi-dimensions and benefits of environmental peacemaking: A blessing or a curse?

Twenty years after the publication Environmental PeacemakingAshok Swain from Uppsala University is Professor of Peace and Conflict Research. How can you define environment and peacebuilding Is environmental peacebuilding a subject of policy-making or research?

The field of environmental peacemaking has grown to be a crowdsourced one. The scope and focus of the enterprise have expanded beyond the North American and European perspectives of resource scarcity. It now includes rights-based narratives and gender, climate change and justice, according to Ken Conca, Professor at American University’s School of International Service. Geoff Dabelko, Ohio University Professor, stated that environmental peacebuilding is a strong, important, inclusive, and inclusive community of theory and practice. Conca stated that while a cacophony is exciting, it can also lead, in some cases, to silos or conceptual sloppiness.

Swain stated that environmental peacebuilding has been legitimized in recent decades because of the increased number of topics in this field. Due to the growing threat of climate changes, more research funding has been directed towards understanding the climate conflict nexus and opportunities for cooperation through adaptation and mitigation. Dabelko stated that twenty years ago we were considered insane or the skunk in a room. These inconvenient points about climate change can be brought up with more care.

Erika Weinthal, Professor at Duke University’s Nicholas School for the Environment, stated that the recognition of grassroots movements and those working on the front lines is also increasing. Engaged research with local actors has been possible thanks to increased attention to environmental defenders as well as land defenders and human rights advocates. Weinthal stated that projects can be driven by the information they receive on the ground, rather than what institutions or the international systems are telling them. This is possible because we have been listening to more of these environmental activists and working in partnership with them.

Environmental peacemaking: Current challenges

However, there are still structural and strategic obstacles. One, post-westphalian environmental peacefulbuilding has not overcome state notions of security and policies, stated Stacy VanDeveer, Chair of Department of Conflict Resolution and Human Security at the University of Massachusetts Boston. In fact, environmental peacebuilding has become more secure. VanDeveer stated that both peacebuilding and more effective and just environmental governance remain lower priorities., Both in scholarship as well as in practice, Rather than the traditional security agenda.

It is also difficult to integrate politics into environmental peacebuilding. Swain stated that policy-making doesn’t want to bring politics in because it makes things more difficult. This resistance can lead to blindspots. For example, take the World Bank. Swain said that institutions development and peacemaking efforts could be compromised if a formula that is successful in one context is applied to the other without taking into account local political economies.

Scaling up

These concerns are indicative of the larger question of scale. Conca stated that transboundary ecological problems were initially the central issue in environmental peacemaking. The shift in theory and practice towards the smaller scale has occurred over the last decade with the rise of hegemonic regionalism and securitization. There is a growing push towards scale, with collective problems like climate change now dominating environmental space. Weinthal stated that we must not lose sight, however, of the plurality at community level. There are many legal systems and forms of ownership, but there is a plurality. At the global level, we like isomorphism. We prefer similar structures across states as it makes it easier to understand.

This is why it is more than just about you participating in it [geopolitical]Scale or cast it here [local] scale, said Swatuk. We have the privilege to move. We can move from the local to global. We can act as a conduit for conversations that otherwise would not take place.

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