Palestine at COP29: War Doesn’t End at Ceasefires
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Over 40,000 Palestinians dead—the exposed crest of a far deeper catastrophe. Poisoned soil, contaminated water, and toxic air is what remains for survivors and those displaced who dream of returning home.
As a student of environmental politics, the ecological impacts of the Israel-Hamas conflict on Palestine deeply distress me. When the planet is destroyed in conflict, everyone now and who will ever live becomes the enemy, thus victim, of ruthless military policy. Despite this, the natural environment remains sequestered by a mainstream discourse committed to keeping such vulnerabilities an afterthought.
Last year’s COP28, the UN’s flagship climate summit known as the Conference of the Parties, marked a significant first: 94 out of 193 member states signed a historic climate declaration focused on peace-building. The declaration prioritized climate resilience for “highly vulnerable countries and communities…threatened or affected by fragility or conflict, or facing severe humanitarian needs.” The conditions in Palestine align starkly with this description, and Israel notably withheld its signature.
As the world turns its attention to the upcoming COP29, in tandem with its recent observance of the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict, it’s time to once again face a hard truth: environmental degradation and political violence are inseparable. Our pursuit of a sustainable future demands that we address environmental injustices on embattled grounds with as much urgency as we do the violence that begets them.
Since October 2023, Palestinians have experienced a severe erosion of their ability to enforce and implement any modicum of environmental policies and regulations within their rights under international law. Almost all environmental management services in Palestine are now disrupted.
“Water and sanitation systems have collapsed. Critical infrastructure continues to be destroyed,” states Inger Anderson, the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). These comments followed the release of a preliminary UNEP report in June, which detailed the dire environmental impacts of the conflict in Gaza.
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Almost all environmental management services in Palestine are now disrupted.
The assessment revealed a near-total breakdown of sewage, wastewater, and solid waste management systems. Additionally, the ongoing conflict has left behind debris contaminated with unexploded ordnance (UXOs), asbestos, and other hazardous materials from the destruction of roads and buildings.
Another issue is the extensive human remains under debris, posing serious health risks such as soil contamination, air pollution, and the spread of infectious diseases. The air quality has drastically worsened, laden with hazardous airborne particles that infiltrate water sources and soil, eventually seeping into the groundwater.
The situation in Palestine is severe but not unprecedented. Ecocide and ecological warfare are deeply embedded in military tactics during conflicts. For example, Iraqi forces ignited over 600 oil wells in Kuwait during the Gulf War, causing environmental harm still being addressed today.
Similarly, Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine has precipitated widespread chemical pollution affecting air, water, and soil. Nearly 30% of Ukraine is littered with landmines and unexploded ordnance, damaging protected areas through landscape destruction, shelling, wildfires, deforestation, and pollution.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin suggested in mid-October that the elimination of Hamas leader Sinwar presents “an extraordinary opportunity” for a ceasefire. Despite the U.S. government’s controversies regarding its funding of the IDF, the majority of Americans, about 67%, support a ceasefire and for Palestinians to live securely in their lands. But, what of the hostilities to the natural environment?
The enduring human toll from exposure to polluted environments remains unquantified. Even with a potential ceasefire, the prospects for Palestinian well-being are grim. Palestine has been reduced to “scorched earth. No houses, no agriculture, nothing left. [Palestinians] have no future,” asserts Colonel Yogev Bar-Sheshet, deputy head of the Civil Administration in charge of Palestinian territories.
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The situation in Palestine is severe but not unprecedented.
As COP29 convenes in Baku, there is potential to bridge its peacebuilding with environmental integrity beyond measuring GHG emissions as is planned. Alongside, it should maximize its impact by setting a new precedent for how a ceasefire could be conceptualized: as a building block for recognitional justice.
Recognitional justice, a core tenet of environmental justice, calls for acknowledging the unique environmental and social damages that conflict-inflicted regions endure. This move can establish norms for holding nations accountable—not only for human casualties but for the lasting ecological devastation affecting entire ecosystems and vulnerable populations.
If we really want to tackle climate change, we must transform our understanding of ceasefires into springboards for ecological rehabilitation, with measures to repair and protect war-torn landscapes. Addressing the underlying ecological harms beneath the warfare surface is crucial for our collective future.
War has no winners, and there isn’t much more we can ignore before there’s no earth left to scorch.
