ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to better promote the understanding of the existing legal framework regulating the protection of the environment as it relates to non-state armed groups. As Cabo Delgado remains susceptible to environmental damage, the chapter responds by looking beyond the law of non-international armed conflict alone. It shows how the International Law Commission’s recently adopted Draft Principles on the Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflict (PERAC), specifically Principle 8 on Human Displacement and Principle 16 on the prohibition of pillage (both being evident and of practical importance in Cabo Delgado) may contribute to limiting environmental devastation. The chapter’s examination reveals that even though these principles are not all necessarily legally binding as such, remain a critical contribution. The chapter ultimately concludes by briefly providing a blueprint for engaging Ansar al-Sunna on this issue. Ultimately, the chapter argues that by looking beyond the existing legal framework, the environment does not have to remain the ‘unpublicized victim of war’.
