Conflicts across the world have been a detriment to the environment around them. In Ukraine, natural environments have been devastated by the war, with occupation from Russian troops and fires visible from space as aggravating factors. According to the New York Times, the Ukraine Black Sea Biosphere Reserve—which is home to more than 120,000 birds—has been a victim of the war. In Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, this is not the only example of an environment being destroyed by the war, but a profound example of a reality across the conflict zone that the environment will be a long-term victim. One of Ukraine’s largest industries is agriculture, and the war has had a damaging effect on every phase of agricultural production in the country. The war’s damage on the agricultural sector not only has long-term economic implications for Ukraine, but also is an example of the overall environmental destruction that the war has caused.  

Experts have referred to what is happening in Ukraine as “ecocide” because of the immense destruction to the environment that has been caused by the war. Across the country, cities have been destroyed, environments have been damaged, and the human cost has caused devastating pain. An end to the conflict is just the first step that it will take to begin rebuilding cities as well as local ecosystems. According to the New York Times, bombs that have been dropped across the country and destroyed fields in farms not only cause immediate destruction but leave residue that seeps into the soil of those farms, harming the prevalence of future crop growth. In addition, destroyed oil tankers spew pollution into the air, causing further harm to environmental and public health. The destruction of dams has also caused droughts across regions; the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in June of 2023 caused much of the water that was used as irrigation in Southern Ukraine to dry up. 

The damage to soil caused by shelling and drought has had an immense negative impact on Ukraine. With Ukraine producing some of the most fertile soil on earth, called “the black earth,” it relies heavily on its agricultural sector for its economy. Additionally, food production has lessened due to the destruction to the agricultural sector. Many who rely on hunting have also seen effects of the war, with destroyed environments leading to the spread of diseases among animal populations, leading to a lower amount of food sources for those in Ukraine. This has all led to Ukraine wanting environmental protections as part of any peace agreement to end the war, since the environmental destruction has been clear and felt across the nation.  

This is an example of how peace, human rights, and the environment are intertwined. For a nation’s citizens to be able to live in peace after war, the environment around them must be a core part of helping that nation rebuild. In peace talks, destruction done to a nation’s environment is not always something that is at the front of mind, but as Ukraine has already signaled, the environmental effects from war are incredibly meaningful and long-lasting if not properly remediated. In the case of Ukraine, the United States and Ukraine’s allies must take a firm stance on requiring peace talks to take the environmental destruction in Ukraine into account. To help Ukraine properly rebuild, there must be a targeted approach to fix this destruction to ensure the long-term health of the nation’s people. Environmental protection and recovery are important parts of ensuring human rights are protected in a nation, not just in the wake of war, but also long-term. A healthy environment is part of human rights, representing the right to be able to breathe clean air and drink clean water, the right to have fertile soil to be able to farm—these rights are crucial to helping Ukraine properly rebuild and ensure long-term prosperity and public health.

We must discuss more that a healthy environment is a core component to lasting peace. Nations can use peacebuilding through the protection of the environment, otherwise known as environmental peacebuilding, as a means of maintaining peace and stability. Nations must focus more not only on the aftereffects of war on the environment, but also on preventative work to reduce further environmental damage from climate change and future human conflicts. Climate change affects the globe in its entirety and knows no borders, so every nation has a responsibility to minimize its contribution to climate change and environmental destruction in general. Recognizing the common goal in protecting our planet can have a positive impact on building cohesive partnerships.