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Another brick in the wall: Climate change (in)adaptation under the law of belligerent occupation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 August 2023

Eva Baudichau*
Affiliation:
Advanced LLM graduate, Leiden University, the Netherlands

Abstract

This article explores the legal obligations of Occupying Powers with regard to climate change adaptation for local populations and their environment under the law of occupation, specifically in the context of prolonged belligerent occupations. It focuses on the critical matter of water and food security, in light of the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events. After shedding light on the intricate issues that arise at the intersection of climate change and belligerent occupation, the article argues that the general obligations incumbent upon the Occupying Power under occupation law, when viewed through a climate lens, can be construed as addressing the heightened climate vulnerability faced by occupied populations.

Type
Conduct of Hostilities
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the ICRC

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Footnotes

*

Eva Baudichau holds a master's degree in public and international law from the Université Libre de Bruxelles and an advanced master's degree in public international law from Leiden University. She previously acted as a Judicial Fellow at the International Court of Justice.

The advice, opinions and statements contained in this article are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the ICRC. The ICRC does not necessarily represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement or other information provided in this article.

References

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2 To the best of the author's knowledge, the capital importance of this “dual strike” was most prominently voiced by the late Suha Jarrar, senior legal researcher and advocacy officer at Al-Haq. See Suha Jarrar, Adaptation under Occupation: Climate Change Vulnerability in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Al-Haq, 2019, p. 12.

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33 Geneva Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949, 75 UNTS 287 (entered into force 21 October 1959) (GC IV).

34 Protocol Additional (I) to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, 1125 UNTS 3, 8 June 1977 (entered into force 7 December 1978) (AP I).

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50 Nuclear Weapons Advisory Opinion, above note 49.

51 See ILC, above note 49, p. 41; Bashi, Sari, “Human Rights in Indefinite Occupation: Palestine”, International Comparative, Policy and Ethics Law Review, Vol. 3, No. 3, 2020, p. 825Google Scholar; Lubell, Noam, “Human Rights Obligations in Military Occupation”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 94, No. 885, 2012CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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53 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 9 May 1992 (entered into force 21 March 1994) (UNFCCC).

54 Ibid., Art. 2.

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57 Ibid., p. 845.

58 Ibid., p. 847.

59 Ibid., p. 848.

60 UNFCCC, above note 53, Art. 4(1)(d).

61 Paris Agreement, 12 December 2015 (entered into force 4 November 2016).

62 Ibid., Art. 2.

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67 Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat, 2 February 1971.

68 ILC, above note 65, Art. 6.

69 UNFCCC, above note 53, Preamble.

70 See, in this sense, Pezzot, Romina Edith, “IHL in the Era of Climate Change: The Application of the UN Climate Change Regime to Belligerent Occupations”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 105, No. 923, 2023, pp. 10841087CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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75 R. E. Pezzot, above note 70, pp. 1081–1083. Pezzot argues that, through a harmonic interpretation of the Paris Agreement and the harm prevention principle, one can conclude to the extraterritorial application of the Paris Agreement. In this sense, “the Occupying Power would be responsible for controlling GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions from the occupied territory under its effective control (in order to avoid worsening the climate change situation), should take concrete actions to mitigate those GHG emissions and to protect the civil population from climate change during the occupation, and should include in its nationally determined contributions those GHGs produced in the occupied territory when that space is under its effective control”.

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80 Y. Dinstein, above note 35, p. 101.

81 ICJ, Armed Activities, above note 49, para. 178.

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84 Ibid., pp. 98–100, referring to Supreme Court of Israel, Abu Aita et al. v. Commander of the Judea and Samaria Region et al., Case No. HCJ 69/81, 5 April 1983.

85 Y. Dinstein, above note 35, p. 102.

86 E. Cusato, above note 5, p. 59.

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89 Jonathan Verschuuren, “Climate Change Adaptation and Water Law”, in Jonathan Verschuuren (ed.), Research Handbook on Climate Change Adaptation Law, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 2013, pp. 251–252.

90 Karen Hulme, “Climate Change and International Humanitarian Law”, in Rosemary Rayfuse and Shirley V. Scott (eds), International Law in the Era of Climate Change, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 2012, p. 211.

91 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 23 May 1969 (entered into force on 27 January 1980), Art. 26.

92 See ICJ, Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States of America), Judgment, ICJ Reports 1986, pp. 135 ff.; Kolb, Robert, “Principles as Sources of International Law”, Netherlands International Law Review, Vol. 53, No. 1, 2006, p. 18CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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94 ICJ, Nicaragua, above note 92, para. 275.

95 Michael Siegrist, The Functional Beginning of Belligerent Occupation, Graduate Institute Publications, Geneva, 2011.

96 Hans-Joachim Heintze, “Protection of the Environment and International Humanitarian Law”, in Centre of Analysis of International Relations, Neglected Victim of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict: Environmental Impacts of Occupation, Baku, 2020, p. 20.

97 ICRC, above note 22, p. 18.

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100 ILC Draft Principles, above note 66, p. 158.

101 Ibid., pp. 161–162.

102 ILC, above note 49, pp. 24–25: in her first report, Special Rapporteur Marja Letho referred to the need for the Occupying Power to adopt some “forward-looking action” to “ensure the well-being of the population”.

103 World Health Organization and UNFCCC, Occupied Palestinian Territory: Health and Climate Change Profile 2022, 2022 available at: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/352629/WHO-HEP-ECH-CCH-22.01.04-eng.pdf?sequence=1.

104 ILC Draft Principles, above note 66, p. 161.

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109 Ibid., para. 68.

110 Israel, “Comments from the State of Israel on the International Law Commission's Draft Principles on the Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflicts as Adopted by the Commission in 2019”, 2020, p. 24.

111 See ICRC, “Gaza: On the Frontlines of Climate Change”, 7 April 2022, available at: www.icrc.org/en/document/gaza-frontlines-climate-change.

112 T. Ferraro, above note 79, p. 13; E. Benvenisti, above note 37, p. 247.

113 Hanne Cuyckens, “The Law of Occupation”, in Jan Wouters, Philippe De Man and Nele Verlinden, Armed Conflicts and the Law, Intersentia, Cambridge, 2016, p. 440.

114 M. Sassòli, above note 82, p. 668; Y. Dinstein, above note 35, p. 119.

115 Y. Dinstein, above note 35, p. 119.

116 ILC Draft Articles, above note 66, p. 164 fn. 770.

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119 Y. Dinstein, above note 35, p. 121.

120 M. Sassòli, above note 82, p. 676.

121 Y. Dinstein, above note 35, p. 127; T. Ferraro, above note 79, p. 58.

122 Y. Dinstein, above note 35, p. 128; see also A. Roberts, above note 42, p. 52.

123 R. E. Pezzot, above note 70, pp. 1080–1081.

124 See the notion of “transformational adaptation” in Mariya Gancheva, Sarah O'Brien, Tugce Tugran and Camille Borrett, Adapting to Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities for EU Local and Regional Authorities, European Committee of the Regions, 2020.

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128 K. Hulme, above note 25, p. 240.

129 Jean Pictet (ed.), Commentary on the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, Vol. 4: Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, ICRC, Geneva, 1958, p. 207.

130 Shardul Agrawala et al., “Climate Change and Natural Resource Management”, in OECD, Bridge Over Troubled Waters: Linking Climate Change and Development, OECD Publishing, Paris, 2006.

131 John E. Gross, Stephen Woodley, Leigh A. Welling and James E. M. Watson (eds), Adapting to Climate Change: Guidance for Protected Area Managers and Planners, IUCN Best Practices Protected Areas Guidelines Series No. 24, Gland, 2016, p. 96.

132 Daniëlla Dam-de Jong, International Law and Governance of Natural Resources in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2015, p. 217.

133 Hague Regulations, above note 32, Art. 23(g); GC IV, Art. 53.

134 Hague Regulations, above note 32, Art. 47; GC IV, Art. 33(2).

135 ILC Draft Articles, above note 66, p. 167.

136 Israel appears to have contested such restrictions: see Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, “Memorandum of Law on the Right to Develop New Oil Fields in Sinai and the Gulf of Suez”, reproduced in International Legal Materials, Vol. 17, No. 2, 1978, p. 432.

137 ILC, above note 49, p. 54.

138 ILC Draft Articles, above note 66, p. 166.

139 Das, Onita, Environmental Protection, Security and Armed Conflict: A Sustainable Development Perspective, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 2013, p. 63CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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141 See, inter alia, Netherlands, Advisory Report on the ILC's Draft Principles on Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflicts, June 2020, p. 1.

142 Israel, above note 110, pp. 25–28.

143 For an example of alleged unsustainable practice of forestry exploitation, see Azerbaijan's claim that Armenia's occupation has caused intensive deforestation in the formerly occupied Nagorno Karabakh region, with, according to the former's assertions, “[t]housands of hectares of forests … cut due to exploitation of new mines”: Azercosmos and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Illegal Activities in the Territories of Azerbaijan under Armenia's Occupation: Evidence from Satellite Imagery, 2019, p. 89; Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Illegal Economic and Other Activities in the Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan, 2016, pp. 82–84. See also the allegations of abusive exploitation of fisheries by Morocco in the waters of Western Sahara: Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, First Indicative Nationally Determined Contribution, 2021, pp. 30–31; Thilo Marauhn and Barry de Vries, “Natural Resources in Times of Occupation”, in Michael L. Fremuth, Jörn Griebel and Robert Heinsch (eds), Natural Resources and International Law: Developments and Challenges: A Liber Amicorum in Honour of Stephen Hobe, Nomos, Baden-Baden, 2022, pp. 70–71.

144 ILC Draft Articles, above note 66, p. 167. See also UNGA Res. 76/225, “Permanent Sovereignty of the Palestinian People in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab Population in the Occupied Syrian Golan over Their Natural Resources”, 11 January 2022, paras 2–3: the UN General Assembly, recalling the permanent sovereignty of Palestinians over their natural resources, demanded that Israel “cease the exploitation, damage, cause of loss or depletion and endangerment of the natural resources” of the occupied Palestinian territory and recognized the right of the occupied population to claim restitution for any of those acts. Significantly, it stated that Israel's practices leading to environmental degradation and depletion of natural resources impact the realization of the Sustainable Developments Goals.

145 UN General Assembly, Report of the Secretary-General: Implications under International Law of the United Nations Resolutions on Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources on the Occupied Palestinian and Other Arab Territories and on the Obligations of Israel Concerning Its Conduct in These Territories, UN Doc. A/38/265, 21 June 1983, para. 47.

146 S. Jarrar, above note 2, p. 53.

147 See K. Hulme, above note 90, p. 209.

148 Barral, Virginie, “Sustainable Development in International Law: Nature and Operation of an Evolutive Legal Norm”, European Journal of International Law, Vol. 23, No. 2, 2012, pp. 283CrossRefGoogle Scholar ff.

149 ICRC, above note 22, p. 39.

150 T. Ferraro, above note 79, p. 55.

151 Martti Koskenniemi, “Occupied Zone – ‘a Zone of Reasonableness’?”, Israel Law Review, Vol. 41, 2008, p. 29.

152 Michael Mason, “The Application of Warfare Ecology to Belligerent Occupations”, in Gary Machlis, Thor Hanson, Zdravko Špirić and Jean McKendry (eds), Warfare Ecology: A New Synthesis for Peace and Security, Springer, Dordrecht, 2011, p. 170.

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154 Pabian, Emilia, “Prolonged Occupation and Exploitation of Natural Resources: A Focus on Natural Gas off the Coast of Northern Cyprus”, Journal of International Humanitarian Studies, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2021, p. 109Google Scholar.

155 T. Ferraro, above note 79, pp. 75–76.

156 Natalie Sauer, “Russia-Ukraine Dispute over Crimea Spills into UN Climate Forum”, Climate Home News, 7 January 2021, available at: www.climatechangenews.com/2021/01/07/russia-ukraine-dispute-crimea-spills-un-climate-forum/.

157 B. K. Weinger, above note 77, p. 2.

158 Ministry of Energy and Environmental Protection of Ukraine, Ukraine's Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990–2018, 2020, pp. 4, 365; Georgia, Nationally Determined Contribution, 2021, p. 8.

159 In this sense, see ILC Draft Articles, above note 66, Principle 21.