The laws of armed conflict and environmental protection: striking a balance.

Abstract

In this paper we shall consider the existing normative framework of the law of armed conflict, the jus in bello, as it relates to protection of the environment. We will review customary law of aimed conflict and highlight major conventional developments to assess the necessity and feasibility for reform in light of the trend in international environmental law to impose explicit environmental protection obligations on states. The Persian Gulf War of 1991, illustrates the issues presented and the conflicting values inherent in these two branches of international law. The post-war debate raised the questions whether the environment" is adequately protected by existing law from the environmentally destructive potential of modern warfare, or is new conventional law on wartime environmental protection needed.12 Serious consideration of these questions brings the international law-making process to a crossroads as it attempts to accommodate evolving environmental law norms, such as a yet to be defined "right of the environment", with countervailing values encompassed in the laws of armed conflict, which emphasize military necessity despite detriment to the environment