ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the relationship between environmental changes and integrated peacebuilding. It examines the theoretical underpinnings of the relationship between environmental change and armed conflict; the current mechanisms in place that attempt to address the issue; and the challenges increasingly faced by peacebuilding efforts in a context of environmental flux. T. F. Homer-Dixon, along with his initial hypothesis about the environment–conflict connection, proposes three types of environmental scarcity that might contribute to violent conflict: supply-induced scarcity, demand-induced scarcity, and structural scarcity. A scarcity of resources does not alone account for violent conflict, even when parties themselves point to resource disputes as the source of conflict. Water has frequently inspired peaceful initiatives to manage jointly held resources. The security field has undergone reassessment in recent years in response to growing concerns about the implications of factors not traditionally considered security threats. The United Nations Development Programme is committed to incorporating conflict and other crisis prevention into its development initiatives.
