Confronting Conflict Pollution: Principles for Assisting Victims of Toxic Remnants of War

Armed conflicts and military activities take a toll on the environment that significantly affects both people and ecosystems. The pollution they cause inflicts severe and long-term physical, psychological, socioeconomic, and cultural harm. While UN bodies have begun to address toxic remnants of war, a framework to meet the short- and long-term needs of those affected has been absent.

Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic and the Conflict and Environment Observatory have adapted humanitarian disarmament’s norms of “victim assistance” to the context of toxic remnants of war. Our report, Confronting Conflict Pollution, presents 14 principles and associated commentary designed to establish the missing assistance framework. The principles embody a collective commitment to work towards victims’ full and effective participation in society and the realization of their human rights.

At this launch webinar, the authors will introduce the report and its new framework, and experts will offer perspectives on its applicability to environmental human rights, humanitarian assistance and conflict health.