At the event, to be held on 3 November in Washington, Ambassador Marie Jacobsson will receive the prominent Al-Moumin Award for her exceptional contributions to environmental peacebuilding.

Ambassador Jacobsson is a member of the United Nations International Law Commission and she was the instigator for including the topic Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflict onto the Commission’s work agenda. The Al-Moumin Award and Distinguished Lecture of Environmental Peacebuilding acknowledges leading thinkers who are influential within the field of environmental peacebuilding. The Award is named in honor of Dr. Mishkat Al-Moumin. She was Iraq’s first Minister of Environment, and also a human rights and environmental lawyer.

Environmental peacebuilding integrates the management of the environment and natural resources into peacebuilding activities to achieve security, humanitarian, and development objectives. Modern armed conflicts often take place in fragile developing states where the environment and its assets are at heart of conflicts. Fighting takes place to gain control over land and natural resources. Income generated from the exploitation of natural resources finance war activities, and the environment is in many cases targeted in the military operations. A damaged and unmanaged environment prevents sustainable peace. For instance, states with resource-related conflicts are more likely to relapse. Thus, environmental peacebuilding is critical in the peacebuilding activities. Furthermore, farmland, forests, minerals, water, and other resources are fundamental for rebuilding livelihoods and domestic economies. In short, a healthy environment is a precondition for building a sustainable peace.

Ambassador Marie Jacobsson has been a member of the International Law Commission since 2007 and was appointed Special Rapporteur for the topic Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflict in 2013. In her work she has sought to expand the legal framework protecting the environment in relation to armed conflicts by adopting a temporal approach focusing on the environmental protection prior, during and after an armed conflict. The approach reflects that actions prior as well as during an armed conflicts have implications on the outlooks for peace. Therefore, to ensure a legal protection for the environment in all three phases is crucial for environmental peacebuilding.

The event is free although pre-registration is necessary. For more information, see the event’s homepage.