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Environment is one of the most important underlying factors. Environmental insecurity can be a fundamental cause of conflict and hence environmental security deserves greater investment in Nepal. This was stated at a talk programme today on "Peace, Security and Environment" by Jeff McNeely, Chief Scientist of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The programme was organised in Kathmandu with an objective to share the critical links on peace, security and environment and understand the relationships between environmental resource management and peace. The deliberations, according to the participants, contributed in deepening and broadening the notion that environment preservation is crucial to people's lives and that Nepal must invest in ecosystems to secure sustainable development in future. McNeely addressed the need for more conflict-sensitive development policies and programmes, underlining the need to think and act holistically regarding peace building efforts, development, security and sustainable development debates. He underlined that the environment and environmental security problems are complex and so must be our solutions, noting that actions to address one problem often create new ones and that proposed solutions must pay attention to specific circumstances. During his presentation, McNeely reiterated that there is a need for a new shared vision of a common destiny to create a culture of peace and solidarity that can create an environment free from poverty, fear, violence and insecurity; that Nepal should continue its initiative on peace and environment amongst the broader constituencies. He said that due consideration should be given to the development of a fora for preventive dialogue and confidence building, conflict resolution, and post-conflict restitution. "The challenge is how do you make environment meaningful to people because we are not going to be able to conserve nature in the absence of people's active participation," he said and added that what really we need to do is to ensure that our environment conservation activities should have public support that actually benefits the people. Delivering his remarks, Dr. Swoyambhu Man Amatya, Secretary of the National Planning Commission, said that the interaction between peace, security and environment is increasingly felt in Nepal and stressed that people have come to realize that environment is critical to their lives and that the environment is threatened. He added that the Government of Nepal is committed to conserving peace and environment and is working to fulfil the obligations under the Millennium Development Goals. For more information, please contact:
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Linking peace, security and environment | Print |