Occupations and Ecological Insecurity

The document examines the ecological insecurity caused by military occupations, noting that hostile authorities often engage in the deliberate destruction of ecosystems and exploitation of natural resources. It analyzes the limitations of the 1907 Hague Regulations in the context of the modern 'triple planetary crisis' and provides examples of environmental damage in Georgia, Kuwait, Palestine, and Timor-Leste. The author proposes legal remedies through the International Criminal Court and the ICJ, as well as policy interventions such as environmental risk assessments and citizen science monitoring to enhance ecosystem resilience.

• Occupations frequently involve substantial environmental damage through scorched earth policies, the destruction of forests and agricultural areas, and the contamination of water sources.
• The 1907 Hague Regulations, which govern occupation, were established before the current 'triple planetary crisis' consisting of biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, and climate change.
• State practice demonstrates a pattern of deliberate environmental destruction during occupation, such as Russia burning forests in Georgia in 2008, Saddam Hussein burning 600 oil wells in Kuwait in 1990, and the uprooting of olive groves by the Israeli Defence Forces in the West Bank.
• In Timor-Leste, Indonesian occupation between 1975 and 1999 led to the destruction of forest cover and sandalwood harvesting, which degraded soil quality and increased the risk of landslides.
• The replacement of indigenous species with non-native ones, such as Israel planting pine trees in place of Palestinian olive groves, is described by some as 'green colonialism' and can lead to ecological instability as the new trees are prone to mortality.
• Legal mechanisms for addressing environmental harm include ICJ compensation for fauna damage in the DRC (Okapi Wildlife Reserve and Virunga National Park) and the CJEU ruling that trade agreements in Western Sahara are inapplicable without the consent of its people.
• Proposed policy strategies to improve ecological security include requiring occupiers to conduct environmental risk assessments and utilizing citizen science via smartphones to monitor biodiversity and record legal violations in real-time.

APA

The Council on Strategic Risks (2025). Occupations and Ecological Insecurity. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2025/06/12/occupations-and-ecological-insecurity/

Chicago

The Council on Strategic Risks. Occupations and Ecological Insecurity. 2025. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2025/06/12/occupations-and-ecological-insecurity/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=The Council on Strategic Risks |title=Occupations and Ecological Insecurity |date=12 June 2025 |url=https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2025/06/12/occupations-and-ecological-insecurity/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{thecouncilonstrategicrisks2025occupations, author = {{The Council on Strategic Risks}}, title = {{Occupations and Ecological Insecurity}}, institution = {The Council on Strategic Risks}, year = {2025}, month = jun, url = {https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2025/06/12/occupations-and-ecological-insecurity/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }