Umesh Chandra Jha - Military Weapons and Environment

MILITARY
WEAPONS
AND
ENVIRONMENT

DR U. C. JHA

Copyright 2018

U C Jha

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

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This is an enlarged and updated version of the text published under the title, Weapons of War: Environmental Impact in the year 2013. Since then there have been many changes and armed conflicts have become more complicated, with the emphasis shifting towards new weapons such as drones, cyber and autonomous weapons. However, discussions on the devastating effects of the use of conventional and nuclear weapons continue. In July 2017, the UN General Assembly adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This treaty is the first multilateral legally-binding instrument for nuclear disarmament to have been negotiated in the last two decades. It prohibits a full range of nuclear-weapon-related activities, such as undertaking to develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, as well as the use or threat of use of these weapons. The treaty will be open for signature to all States at the UN Headquarters in New York in September 2017. Once 50 States have ratified the treaty, nuclear weapons which pose the single biggest threat to the environment will be illegal.

The ongoing conflicts have shown that the consequences of the use of explosive weapons are not limited to death, physical injury and disability, but also include long-term impacts on mental well-being. The use of improvised weapons by States and non-State actors is an area of concern for the environment. It has been reported, for example, that Syrian regime helicopters dropped 12,958 barrel bombs in 2016. A barrel bomb is an improvised explosive device, typically made from a large barrel-shaped metal container that has been filled with high explosives, shrapnel and chemicals. Due to the large amount of explosives (up to 1,000 kg), the resulting detonations have been devastating. In 2016 alone, barrel-bombs were responsible for the deaths of 653 civilians, including 166 children and 86 women in Syria. It is difficult to assess the environmental harm that such weapons would cause in the long run.

The testing of weapons, military training exercises and military activity during armed conflict have devastating effects on the environment. War not only destroys homes and infrastructure, and causes the displacement of people, but also has a long-term impact on the lives of people. For instance, the consequences of landmines are felt years after hostilities cease. Other than causing human casualties, landmines are a significant contributor to such global environmental crises as deforestation, soil erosion, water pollution and declining biodiversity. They also render fertile farmland unusable, leading to food shortages and malnutrition. Evidence suggests that during the first Gulf War, the US bombed Iraq with 340 tonnes of missiles containing depleted uranium. Researchers have suggested that radiation from these weapons has poisoned the soil and water of Iraq, making the environment carcinogenic. Today, nearly 50 million people are affected by urban armed conflict, leading to mass displacement, destruction of critical infrastructure and interrupted or inadequate provision of basic public services.

Every State must, therefore, ensure that weapons used by their armed forces are explicitly adjudged under international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law. While reviewing a new weapon, the States must adopt multilateral approaches, drawing upon relevant legal, health, environmental and military expertise.

This book describes the environmental effects of eight weapons and explosive remnants of war that have caused extensive environmental harm in the recent past. It also makes specific recommendations addressed to the international community and the States for protecting the natural environment from the impact of weapons of war. I hope this edition of the book will contribute to a better understanding of the environmental harm caused by military weapons. I thank KW Publishers Pvt Ltd for their assistance in bringing out this edition.

U C Jha