ENVIRONMENT: Scramble for Resources Driving Sudan Conflicts

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 20 (IPS) – A U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) report released here this week emphasises strong linkages between environmental stresses and the ongoing conflict in Sudan.

The new assessment of the country, including the troubled region of Darfur, indicates that among the root causes of decades of social strife and conflict are the rapidly eroding environmental conditions in several parts of the country.
“We must address the root causes of the conflict, which are poverty and environmental degradation,” Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad, Sudan’s Ambassador to the U.N., told IPS.

“Unless this is tackled they will relapse to conflict,” Mohamad said. “It is not people killing each other for no reason. Political reasons came later. The conflict has been there for a long time. Gradual degradation of the environment competing over dwindling resources,” he continued.

The 354-page “Sudan: Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment” points to environmental impacts of population displacement and under-investment in sustainable development, plus competition over oil and gas reserves, Nile water, timber, and agricultural land as root causes in the “instigation and perpetuation of conflict in Sudan.”

“Seventy-five percent of the country is at peace, there are stable oil revenues coming in and there is good recognition of environment issues at the local level,” said Andrew Morton of UNEP’s Post-Conflict and Disaster Management Branch. “This is an excellent opportunity to integrate concepts of sustainable development in Sudan,” he stressed.

Inter Press Service