Guyana calls on UNSC to enforce accountability for environmental crimes, increase reporting of war-related climate impacts

Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, has called on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to strengthen global accountability for environmental crimes and to ensure greater reporting on the devastating impact of armed conflict on the environment.
Delivering remarks at a Security Council briefing on “Climate and Security – Environmental Impact of Armed Conflict–Driven Security Risks”, Rodrigues-Birkett urged the international community to confront what she described as a growing and underreported threat to global stability. She said the destruction caused by wars goes far beyond physical infrastructure, warning that “conflicts disrupt ecosystems, deplete natural resources, and pollute the environment.”
Citing data from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Rodrigues-Birkett highlighted the massive environmental toll of warfare, pointing to the Gaza conflict where “the destruction of buildings, roads, and other infrastructure generated over 61 million tonnes of debris, some of which are contaminated with unexploded ordnance, asbestos, and other hazardous substances.”

The ambassador noted that the environmental damage of war begins long before combat, extending to the extraction of critical minerals for defence production and the establishment of military bases in ecologically protected areas. “Military training, including missile testing in the open sea, can result in irreversible environmental loss,” she said. She further referenced findings from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) estimating that the world’s military forces account for 5.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, not including emissions from active warfare — a figure she said underscores “the magnitude of the problem and the urgent need for action.” Two decades after Sierra Leone’s civil war, she observed, the country still faces degraded farmlands and water resources, a stark reminder of how environmental destruction from conflict can last for generations. Rodrigues-Birkett proposed four key recommendations to the Council. First, and in line with recommendations from related debates, she said the Security Council should request regular, evidence-based assessments from relevant UN bodies on the interlinkages between climate, peace, and security, with analyses tailored to the realities of conflict-affected regions. Secondly, she urged that political and stabilisation missions embed environmental considerations into their operations, including waste management, pollution control, and resilient reconstruction, to prevent further degradation in post-conflict settings. Her third recommendation focused on improving reporting and prevention, calling for stronger pre-conflict reporting standards and compliance with environmental laws to reduce military pollution, backed by investment in green military technologies.
Finally, she anchored her fourth recommendation in international humanitarian law, urging stronger enforcement measures to hold perpetrators accountable for indiscriminate attacks that devastate the environment and civilian infrastructure.
“The impacts of war on the environment cannot be ignored,” she said. “Strengthening compliance and enforcing accountability for environmental crimes must become part of the global security architecture.” Rodrigues-Birkett’s intervention builds on Guyana’s ongoing leadership in linking climate change to global peace and security, following the country’s 2024 UN debate on climate change and food insecurity — an effort she said continues to shape international understanding of the “climate-security nexus.” Guyana’s call at the UN underscores its growing voice on climate diplomacy, advocating for a world where sustainability, peace, and accountability remain inseparable pillars of international governance.