Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The United Nations and the United Nations Security Council
The United Nations (UN) and the UN Security Council (SC) have been aware of the
link between natural resources and conflict for many years. In response, the SC has
passed sanctions, set up committees and groups of experts, and authorised several
peacekeeping operations to assist in monitoring and implementing sanction regimes.
In 1993 the SC already passed an oil embargo against UNITA in Angola. In 1997 and
2000 it imposed oil and diamond sanctions on Sierra Leone, and in 1998 it instituted
diamond embargoes against UNITA. Liberia faced diamond and timber embargoes
in 2001 and 2003 respectively, and Côte d'Ivoire faced similar diamond sanctions in
2005, when the so-called Pretoria Agreement showed the first signs of disintegration.
In the UNMIL, UNOCI and MONUC peace missions, special cells or units have been
established to both study and, where appropriate, deal with the control and manage-
ment of natural resources or with the embargoes when these were still in place. At the
2005 World Summit the SC adopted resolution 1625 that reaffirmed “its determina-
tion to take action against illegal exploitation and trafficking of natural resources and
high-value commodities in areas where it contributes to the outbreak, escalation or
continuation of armed conflict.''
In an open debate in 2007 (Belgian Presidency 2007), the Security Council reit-
erated the importance of cooperation among source, transit and destination countries
in preventing and combating trafficking, illicit trade and illegal exploitation of nat-
ural resources, and referred to the important contribution of commodity monitoring
and certification schemes such as the Kimberley Process. It also recognised the role of
voluntary initiatives aimed at improving revenue transparency, such as the Extractive
Industries Transparency Initiative (see below). The Council also noted the important
contribution of voluntary principles and standards in encouraging the private sector
in general and multinational enterprises in particular to adopt a responsible business
conduct.
More generally, the Council emphasised that the lawful, transparent and sustain-
able management of natural resources is a critical factor in maintaining stability and in
preventing a relapse into conflict (Security Council SC/9060). With regard to all those
topics, important developments have occurred over the last years. Yet, the question
in all of these debates revolves around the degree to which the SC should deal with
those issues itself, rely on the initiative of other UN mechanisms (such as the General
Assembly or the new Peace-building Commission), or encourage initiatives outside the
UN framework and regional approaches. In this regard, a regional perspective seems to
be logical, as the issue of natural resources has an important cross-border dimension.
World Bank
The World Bank's Development Research Group has provided an important impetus to
the formulation of insights and policies on the nexus of natural resources and conflict,
by carrying out a research project on the economics of civil war, crime and violence. In
2011, the World Bank even devoted its annual World Development Report to the topic
of 'Conflict, Security and Development' (World Bank 2011). In an attempt to forge
practical approaches and policies for the international community, the World Bank's
Conflict Prevention and Reconstruction Unit and the Development Research Group
further set up the Governance of Natural Resources Project in 2002. The edited volume
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