ABSTRACT
This chapter examines international instruments that place limitations on the deliberate infliction of environmental damage for military purposes or during armed conflict. The 1949 Geneva Conventions and Protocols have sought to protect persons and property from the impacts of military activities. Conversely, ENMOD, adopted in 1976, addresses directly the question of environmental harm resulting from military activities by prohibiting the hostile use of environmental modification techniques having widespread, long-lasting or severe effects. The environmental consequences of armed conflict have also been addressed in the framework of the UN Charter after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. This led the Security Council to consider for the first time the responsibility of a state for environmental harm caused by unlawful military activities. Further consideration of the environmental impacts of armed conflict has been made by the UN Compensation Commission (UNCC) including losses or expenses resulting from direct environmental damage and the depletion of natural resources.
