Abstract
Armed conflicts have a significant and detrimental effect on the climate system, with considerable implications for efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change and the civilian population. Yet the environmental provisions under the law of armed conflict (LOAC), drafted some half a century ago, struggle to adequately address these concerns. This article assesses the capacity of LOAC to address conflict-driven climate damage and its cascading impacts by characterizing these harms as environmental damage and as injury to civilians. The analysis highlights opportunities for broadening LOA C's scope and offers recommendations to enhance its capacity to address climate damage and indirect harms within its legal framework.
Recommended Citation
Beatrice L. Hamilton,
Drawing Lines in the Sand: Armed Conflict, Climate Damage and Setbacks to Climate Action,
14
Mich. J. Env't. & Admin. L.
45
(2025).
Available at:
https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjeal/vol14/iss2/3
Included in
Environmental Health and Protection Commons, Environmental Law Commons, Military, War, and Peace Commons, Peace and Conflict Studies Commons