Environmental peacemaking - Challenges for the German development cooperation

Cross-border environmental cooperation, particularly in the field of nature and water protection, is increasingly recognized as an instrument of conflict and crisis prevention. This plays an important role in the current international debate on environment and safety. In fact, co-operative mechanisms that protect rivers outweigh the much invoked conflicts and wars over water resources. Besides ecological benefits, cross-border nature protection areas foster confidence building between formerly hostile countries and social groups. So far, however, only a few successful experiences have occurred. In the field of development cooperation, especially questions relating to the actual design of such peacebuilding environmental measures (e. g. negotiation mechanisms, operator involvement, intervention or mediation) were rarely pursued.

Therefore, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) commissioned adelphi to conduct a conceptual study that demonstrates the potential of transboundary environmental cooperation, identifies concrete approaches and serves as a basis for further discussions with the BMZ and its implementing agencies on this issue.