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relationships among them.
The environmental relationships are so various and infinite that it is necessary to have a strong
acknowledgement to be able to manage them in the correct way.
So it is important to deepen the international legal framework in which we are moving: at first sight
we clearly understand the weakness of this system, in fact several international environmental
agreements exist but they are mostly soft law, non-binding. Another critical issue is given by non-
ratification from countries of utmost relevance.
In the most recent past the International Community has begun to ask to the Parties to subscribe
binding agreements (as it happened with Paris Agreement on climate change) but it is only the first
step that Countries, private sector companies and NGO have to take forward.
There are some fundamental principles, widely accepted: in particular the “do no harm” ,the
“precautionary principle” and “polluter pays” principle have found an international consensus and
have been integrated into the legal systems of several States or international organizations (EU).
In the last decades different specific agencies (from UN and also totally independent), programs and
organizations were born, mainly devoted to environmental care, as UNEP (that recently has been
transformed in UNE), UNEA, GEF, IUCN, watching this subject from a political or scientific
perspective but always with the common goal of create awareness and consciousness in
preservation and protection.
And with the same vision the Chair wants to offer a hint to all the students: to be able to consider
the environmental as a fundamental part of the peace process.
UN environmental doctrine is new and an ongoing process. It has moved strong steps forward in the
last years: from the Environmental
Policy in the 2009 a lot of important
considerations have found place in
different documents, specifying the
importance of being accountable of
environmental issues. One of the most
recent has been published in April 2018
“Greening Peacekeeping: the
environmental impact of UN peace
operations” by International Peace
Institute in which Un peace operations’
environmental concerns and practices
have been studied in order to verify
their potentially destructive effects as
unintended consequences. Roles are well-identified and individual responsibilities apply at any
level, from the Individual Police Officer to the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping
Operations and Under-Secretary-General for Field Support.
The Environmental Policy has a substantial novelty linked to the institution of a dedicated
environmental role: the Environmental Officer, subject to the authority delegated to him/her by
the Director of Mission Support/Chief of Mission Support, has to be responsible for coordinating
and managing actions on environmental issues in the mission. He or she has to establish the
mission’s Environmental Management System by undertaking different tasks as well as conduct
environmental assessments and surveys of operations in the mission, produce the mission’s

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