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29 U.C. Davis J. Int'l L. & Pol'y 1 (2022-2023)

handle is hein.journals/ucdl29 and id is 1 raw text is: ELIAS BANTEKAS_REIMAGINING RECENT CONFLICTS AS ENVIRONMENTAL CONFLICTS WHAT ROLE FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW.DOCX (Do NOT DELETE) 11/16/2022 1:02PM RE-IMAGINING RECENT CONFLICTS AS ENVIRONMENTAL CONFLICTS: WHAT ROLE FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW? Ilias Bantekas* ABSTRACT There is intractable evidence of a nexus between climate change and environmental degradation and violent conflict. Both are contributingfactors. Yet, it is only very recently that the UN Security Council has identified their impact, especially in Africa, without however addressing them in any meaningful way. There is no indication that the Council intends to assist in any other way other than through capacity building measures. The paper provides at least two instances where environmental degradation, man-made in character, has greatly impacted local communities and led to conflict. The first is Darfur, which is treated in this paper as chiefly an environmentally driven conflict, despite the existence of other contributing elements. The second is the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where poverty, corruption and lack of sound governance have allowed criminal gangs to spoliate the country's natural resources. The paper suggests that the UN Security Council is better placed than any other entity to address the root causes of such conflicts.