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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
PB April 2023 April 2023 77
T
he Environment and Emergencies
Forum 2023 took place in Brussels on
22 and 23 March 2023. It focused
largely on the knowledge gap
between people involved in
environmentalism and humanitarianism, the
harm this causes, and how to address it – as well
as the complex interconnection between climate
change and conflict.
Siloed sectors
In session after session, speakers repeated how
crucial a role environmental issues play in
humanitarian action. There is currently a
disconnect between the sectors. Each group
works dierently, uses separate terms, moves
at its own pace – and this lack of coherence
causes problems. Florence Poncet, an oil-spill
expert, explained that scientists whose
expertise is desperately needed on the ground
may be overwhelmed when plunged into the
chaos in a frontline situation.
Haiti and Bangladesh
Fiona Cook , a consultant for Joint Initiative,
mentioned that in Haiti and Cox’s Bazar in
Bangladesh, humanitarian aid left the local
climate in worse condition than it found it. There
is, then, an urgent need to counter the gap
between these sectors by mainstreaming
environmental considerations into humanitarian
action.
The issue is that humanitarians are already
overstretched, and are saving lives under
immediate threat. There is little energy left to
spend on developing a holistic approach to
sustainability – but it is desperately needed. We
cannot only consider what is life-saving now but
also what it will necessarily involve in the future.
Speakers at the Forum presented a variety of
solutions: simulation exercises to prepare
experts for the field; universal training for first
responders, using common terms, to open
actors’ eyes to all angles of the situation; talking
directly to the people aected, as they know
about the issues, challenges and opportunities
from a local perspective. However, none of this
will be enough without a top-down shift in
perspective and understanding.
Beirut
For example, the Port of Beirut explosion in 2020
shows the danger of a lack of understanding at
the decision-maker level. Most authorities
assumed that the emergency had been the
explosion itself, and when it was over, that
cleanup of the associated waste would be
merely a necessary chore. Dominique Salamah,
an expert in bio-waste for French consultancy,
Fermendom, described his horror at finding an
Sudan
Dr Mouna Zein, Programme Analyst, UNEP,
outlined the nature of water insecurity in Sudan
and showed how it illustrated the interconnection
between conflict and climate change, as each has
worsened and accelerated the other: drought has
caused a water shortage, and remaining water
sources have been poisoned and weaponised.
Ukraine
Natural resources in Ukraine have also been
negatively affected. In an effort to make
themselves more resilient, many communities
have begun growing their own food – not
factoring the reality that much of Ukraine’s soil
is chemically contaminated, and some of it is
beyond rehabilitation. Anna Ackermann , Policy
Analyst, Green Reconstruction of Ukraine,
stressed the need to begin environmental
restoration in Ukraine immediately, and talked
about the obstacles that eort has met. Workers
in Ukraine are beginning the process of
reconstruction, and attempting to make this an
opportunity to build back better – but there are
few historical examples of post-war
reconstruction that are environmentally friendly,
leaving experts with little guidance. Nor is there
a clear line of accountability suggesting who will
pay for the extensive damage in Ukraine.
Compounding the difficulty is Russia’s
occupation of a Ukrainian power plant. This
poses a looming threat of nuclear terrorism,
against which there is no prevention mechanism
in place. Nevertheless, the conference heard,
reconstruction must not be put on hold.
Communities have been left without climate
security, and their resilience needs to be
restored.
The Forum’s two days of discussion were
intense and goal-oriented. There was an
atmosphere of determination and
empowerment, a feeling that the proposed
solutions would be put into action, and might
even make a real dierence.
The practicalities of
idealism in crises
The Environment and Emergencies Forum 2023
addressed how to balance environmentalism
and humanitarianism, focusing on crises in Haiti,
Bangladesh, Lebanon, Sudan and Ukraine
By Róisín O’Shea
awareness-raising concert being held in the
ruins of the port, with attendees unaware that
they were surrounded by asbestos.
Despite warnings from experts, tonnes of
grain have been left to rot in the port for the last
32 months, awaiting proper disposal. In that
time they have reached a level of fermentation
which produces carcinogenic mycotoxins,
airborne up to 25km – 12.5 times further than
the damage radius of the original blast.
Climate and conflict
Conflict and environmental degradation act in
concert as a negative feedback loop. Areas of
protracted conflict often lose access to energy
infrastructure, which increases dependence on
diesel, rather than electricity, as a power source
– which in turn increases the negative impact on
the environment.
Water security was stressed as an area which
needs immediate attention and pre-emptive
action. Tim Grieve, Senior Policy Expert, Water,
Sanitation, and Public Health for Germany’s
‘Wash’ network, estimated that by 2040, 40%
of the world’s population will be water-stressed.
The worsening of water security and water-
related ecosystem degradation is one of the top
five risks to social, economic, and political
stability.
INTERNATIONAL
100-rtist chrity concert t seside ren,
Beirut: ttendees in the ruins of the port
unwre they were surrounded by sbestos
