Karen Hulme is a professor of law at the University of Essex, UK, and researches on issues related to the protection of the environment during crises, notably during armed conflict and post conflict ...
IUCN COMMISSION GROUP
IUCN WCEL Environmental Security and Conflict Law Specialist Group
Overview and description
The Mission of the IUCN WCEL Environmental Security and Conflict Law Specialist Group is to encourage dialogue, discussion and action among the membership, and to serve as the source of legal expertise, in relation to peace/peacebuilding, security and conflict issues.
Group leadership
Ms Karen HULME
Chair
Karen Hulme is a professor of law at the University of Essex, UK, and researches on issues related to the protection of the environment during crises, notably during armed conflict and post conflict, as well as environmental human rights. Karen engages with the work of the civil society organisation, the Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS), and with the International Committee of the Red Cross on issues related to protection of the environment during armed conflict. Karen has a range of scholarly publications covering topics such as armed conflict, security, environmental human rights and specific weapons, as well as focusing on issues related to climate change, biodiversity and oceans.
Karen is Chair of the WCEL Specialist Group on Environmental Security and Conflict Law. Our group has a wide remit in relation to threats to the environment in times of crises, such as during armed conflict and in the aftermath of crisis and conflict, as well as from broader security threats, such as those posed by the impacts of climate change, migration and unsustainable development.
Prof Daniëlla DAM-DE JONG
Deputy Chair
Daniëlla Dam-de Jong is Professor of International Sustainable Development Law at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies at Leiden University. She has written and advised extensively on the interconnections between sustainable development and international peace and security. Her monograph International Law and Governance of Natural Resources in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations (CUP, 2015) has received a research prize by the Foundation Praemium Erasmianum. Daniëlla is a member of the Dutch Advisory Committee on Public International Law (CAVV). Her key interests relate to environmental peacebuilding and the human rights and environmental implications of the energy transition.
Daniëlla Dam-de Jong is Professor of International Sustainable Development Law at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies at Leiden University. She has written and advised extensively on ...
Goals of the Specialist Group
- Serve as the source of legal expertise on issues related to peace, security and conflict to IUCN and partners
- Expand the community of legal experts on issues of peace, security and conflict
- Participate in, and provide expertise to, intergovernmental organisations and other fora seeking to advance legal protections related to peace, security and conflict issues
- Expand broader understanding of the environmental harms posed by armed conflict and threats to security
Overview of core projects
Four core project areas are proposed for the quadrennium 2026-29, all cross-cutting in nature. SG members may propose new projects to the leadership team at any given time, and specific working groups can be created for specific activities. The SG will also seek alignment, as appropriate, with other IUCN and WCEL led initiatives and guidelines, especially those that intersect with conflict, security and fragile states.
1. Promoting and commenting on recent legal developments in the field
The main instruments we need to analyse and continue to probe and promote are the International Law Commission’s 2022 Principles on the Protection of the Environment in relation to Armed Conflict and the 2025 ICC Prosecutor’s Policy on Environmental Crimes- although we remain vigilant to new developments as they arise. The IUCN passed a Resolution at its World Conservation Congress in Marseilles in 2021 (Res. 052) that requires action from the SG. IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law Environmental Security and Conflict Law Specialist Group.
2. Conflict/security and nature conservation nexus
There are two resolutions that relate to nature conservation and conflict, namely Abu Dhabi Resolution 59 on Nature conservation diplomacy (nature-peace-security nexus) and Resolution 58 on conflict sensitive conservation. This work also aligns with our previous workstream on biodiversity and conflict. We will highlight and monitor key legal issues taking place in relation to conflicts and their impacts on biodiversity/nature conservation, including through environmental peacebuilding initiatives. Similarly, biodiversity/nature conservation instruments and MEAs do not generally recognise the issue of armed conflict. We will assess biodiversity/nature conventions in relation to how they relate to conflict, and promote synergies among MEAs - drawing attention to how MEAs could address conservation in armed conflict situations.
3. Ecocide and ICC-related Environmental Crimes
The Specialist Group will study the scope and application of the crime of ecocide in relation to conflict scenarios, and help to evaluate whether environmental damage in conflict could be clarified by amending the Rome Statute to make ecocide a crime explicitly within the jurisdiction of the Court, during armed conflict.
4. Human rights and environmental security
There are several areas in which human rights and broader environmental security issues are referred to in the resolutions. For example, Resolution 104 on Safeguarding biodiversity and human rights in energy transition mineral governance aligns with our work on corporate responsibility in relation to conflict minerals and natural resources. It also aligns with our work on environmental peacebuilding. Access to energy transition minerals (or critical raw materials) has been recognized as a matter of national security by various states in recent years (see eg 2025 national security strategy US).
Environmental Security and Conflict Law SG - Terms of Reference (TORs) 2025-2029