Skip to main content

Environmental Sustainability: The Missing Pillar of Positive Peace

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Peace

Abstract

In this chapter, we identified a myriad of factors that bolster the peace-sustainability nexus. There has been a growing recognition of the relationship between peace and sustainability in both academic and policy circles. However, the current understanding of the peace-promoting potential of sustainability and the sustainability-promoting potential of peace remains limited. This chapter contributes to this knowledge lacuna by merging positive peace and sustainability into a conceptual framework that can guide future research and policymaking. Informed by a systematic review of literature on the peace-sustainability nexus, we discuss the five dimensions of sustainability – economic, social, political, institutional, and environmental – in relation to the pillars of positive peace. We then make a case for the integration of environmental sustainability into the pillars of positive peace.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Barnard, P., Brown, C. J., Jarvis, A. M., Robertson, A., & Van Rooyen, L. (1998). Extending the Namibian protected area network to safeguard hotspots of endemism and diversity. Biodiversity and Conservation, 7(4), 531–547.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, J. (2000). Destabilising the environment-conflict thesis. Review of International Studies, 26(2), 271–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Binningsbø, H. M., de Soysa, I., & Gleditsch, N. P. (2007). Green giant or straw man? Environmental pressure and civil conflict, 1961–99. Population and Environment, 28(6), 337–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blinc, R., Zidanšek, A., & Šlaus, I. (2007). Sustainable development and global security. Energy, 32(6), 883–890.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boserup, E., & Schultz, T. P. (Eds.). (1990). Economic and demographic relationships in development. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brock, L. (1991). Peace through parks: The environment on the peace research agenda. Journal of Peace Research, 28(4), 407–423.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brundtland Commission. (1987). Our common future: Report of the world commission on environment and development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buhaug, H., Gleditsch, N. P., & Theisen, O. M. (2008). Implications of climate change for armed conflict. Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cairns, J., Jr. (2003). War and sustainability. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology, 10(3), 185–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charlesworth, H. (2008). Are women peaceful? Reflections on the role of women in peace-building. Feminist Legal Studies, 16, 347–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collier, P. (2000). Doing well out of war: An economic perspective. In M. R. Berdal & D. M. Malone (Eds.), Greed and grievance: Economic agendas in civil wars (pp. 91–112). Boulder/London: Lynne Rienner.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Conca, K. (2001). Environmental cooperation and international peace. In P. Diehl & N. P. Gleditsch (Eds.), Environmental conflict (pp. 225–249). Boulder: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conca, K., & Dabelko, G. D. (2002). Environmental peacemaking. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diehl, P., & Gleditsch, P. (Eds.). (2018). Environmental conflict: An anthology. New York/Oxon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2002). The world summit on sustainable development. People, planet, prosperity. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, J., & Rucki, K. (2017). Re-conceptualising the science of sustainability: A dynamical systems approach to understanding the Nexus of conflict, development and the environment. Sustainable Development, 25(4), 267–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galtung, J. (1969). Violence, peace, and peace research. Journal of Peace Research, 6(3), 167–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garnett, T. A. (2016). ‘Ellen is our man’: Perceptions of gender in postconflict Liberian politics. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 18(1), 99–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gizelis, T.-I. (2011). A country of their own: Women and peacebuilding. Conflict Management and Peace Science, 28(5), 522–542. https://doi.org/10.1177/0738894211418412.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gleditsch, N. P. (1998). Armed conflict and the environment: A critique of the literature. Journal of Peace Research, 35(3), 381–400.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gomes, A. (2012). Alter-native ‘development’: Indigenous forms of social ecology. Third World Quarterly, 33(6), 1059–1073.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, T. (2016). Holistic peace. Peace Review, 28(2), 212–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hauge, W., & Ellingsen, T. (1998). Beyond environmental scarcity: Causal pathways to conflict. Journal of Peace Research, 35(3), 299–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hegre, H., Buhaug, H., Calvin, K. V., Nordkvelle, J., Waldhoff, S. T., & Gilmore, E. (2016). Forecasting civil conflict along the shared socio-economic pathways. Environmental Research Letters, 11(5), 8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helbing, D. (2019). Digitisation 2.0: A new game begins. In D. Helbing (Ed.), Towards digital enlightenment: Essays on the dark and light sides of the digital revolution (pp. 213–222). Cham: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hoerber, T., Wenger, M., & Demion, A. (2019). From peace and prosperity to space and sustainability. In T. Hoerber & S. Lieberman (Eds.), A European space policy: Past consolidation, present challenges and future perspectives (pp. 116–140). London: Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Homer-Dixon, T. (1999). Environment, scarcity, and violence. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hove, M. (2017). Post-Gaddafi Libya and the African Union: Challenges and the road to sustainable peace. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 52(3), 271–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP). (2019). Positive peace report 2019: Analysing the factors that sustain peace. Sydney: IEP.

    Google Scholar 

  • Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP). (2020). Global peace index 2020: Measuring peace in a complex world. Sydney: IEP.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, T., & Curry, J. (2004). Peace in the woods: Sustainability and the democratisation of land use planning and resource management on crown lands in British Columbia. International Planning Studies, 9(1), 27–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • James, P. (2015). Urban sustainability in theory and practice: Circles of sustainability. Oxon/New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, D., & Lonergan, S. (Eds.). (2012). Assessing and restoring natural resources in post-conflict peacebuilding. London: Earthscan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalabamu, F. T. (2019). Land tenure reforms and persistence of land conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa – The case of Botswana. Land Use Policy, 81, 337–345.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kobia, R. (2002). European Union Commission policy in the DRC. Review of African Political Economy, 29(93–94), 431–443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolstø, P. (2006). The sustainability and future of unrecognised quasi-states. Journal of Peace Research, 43(6), 723–740.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kosic, A., & Byrne, S. (2008). Community relations work with young people in Vukovar, Croatia: An exploratory study in coexistence building. Peace and Conflict Studies, 15(2), 61–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koubi, V. (2019). Climate change and conflict. Annual Review of Political Science, 22(1), 343–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koubi, V., Bernauer, T., Kalbhenn, A., & Spilker, G. (2012). Climate variability, economic growth, and civil conflict. Journal of Peace Research, 49(1), 113–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krampe, F. (2017). Toward sustainable peace: A new research agenda for post-conflict natural resource management. Global Environmental Politics, 17(4), 1–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le Billon, P. (2001). The political ecology of war: Natural resources and armed conflicts. Political Geography, 20(5), 561–584.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucena, J., & Schneider, J. (2008). Engineers, development, and engineering education: From national to sustainable community development. European Journal of Engineering Education, 33(3), 247–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lujala, P. (2010). The spoils of nature: Armed civil conflict and rebel access to natural resources. Journal of Peace Research, 47(1), 15–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mach, K. J., Kraan, C. M., Adger, W. N., Buhaug, H., Burke, M., Fearon, J. D., Field, C. B., Hendrix, C. S., Maystadt, J.-F., O’Loughlin, J., Roessler, P., Scheffran, J., Schultz, K. A., & von Uexkull, N. (2019). Climate as a risk factor for armed conflict. Nature, 571, 193–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magee, L., Scerri, A., & James, P. (2012). Measuring social sustainability: A community-centred approach. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 7(3), 239–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mastro, O. S. (2019). In the shadow of the Thucydides trap: International relations theory and the prospects for peace in U.S.-China relations. Journal of Chinese Political Science, 24(1), 25–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mboup, G., & Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, B. (2019). Relevance of smart economy in smart cities in Africa. In G. Mboup & B. Oyelaran-Oyeyinka (Eds.), Advances in 21st century human settlements (pp. 1–49). Singapore: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNairn, R. (2004). Building capacity to resolve conflict in communities: Oxfam experience in Rwanda. Gender and Development, 12(3), 83–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNulty, R. E. (2014). Reflections on the importance of business for peace in 21st-century peacebuilding. Business, Peace and Sustainable Development, 2014(4), 113–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meadowcroft, J. (2009). What about the politics? Sustainable development, transition management, and long term energy transitions. Policy Sciences, 42(4), 323–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mihelcic, J. R., Phillips, L. D., & Watkins, D. W., Jr. (2006). Integrating a global perspective into education and research: Engineering international sustainable development. Environmental Engineering Science, 23(3), 426–438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitter, S. (2004). Globalisation, ICTs, and economic empowerment: A feminist critique. Gender Technology and Development, 8(1), 5–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muyingi, M. A. (2013). Conflict and development in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A review of related literature. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 4(3), 491–502.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ndaguba, E. A., Nzewi, O. I., & Shai, K. B. (2018). Financial imperatives and constraints towards funding the SADC Standby Force. India Quarterly, 74(2), 179–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norander, S., & Harter, L. M. (2012). Reflexivity in practice: Challenges and potentials of transnational organising. Management Communication Quarterly, 26(1), 74–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nwebo, O. E. (2018). The African Union Agenda 2063 and the imperative of democratic governance. Law and Development Review, 11(2), 259–276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oetzel, J., & Miklian, J. (2017). Multinational enterprises, risk management, and the business and economics of peace. Multinational Business Review, 25(4), 270–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Omojimite, B. U. (2012). Sustainable development, peace and security in the Niger Delta region. European Journal of Social Sciences, 28(4), 549–558.

    Google Scholar 

  • Öztana, M., & Axelrod, M. (2011). Sustainable transboundary groundwater management under shifting political scenarios: The Ceylanpinar aquifer and Turkey-Syria relations. Water International, 36(5), 671–685.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, M. (2005). Beyond polarisation and platitudes – Policies for environment, development and sustainable peace: Finding paths to environmental peace-making. Journal of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, 19(1), 68–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, R. J. (2011). Strengthening sovereignty: Security and sustainability in an era of climate change. Sustainability, 3(9), 1416–1451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pemunta, N. V., & Nkongho, E. A. R. (2014). The fragility of the liberal peace export to South Sudan: Formal education access as a basis of a liberal peace project. Journal of Human Security, 10(1), 59–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raleigh, C., & Urdal, H. (2007). Climate change, environmental degradation and armed conflict. Political Geography, 26(6), 674–694.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Redclift, M. (1991). The multiple dimensions of sustainable development. Geography, 76(1), 36–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salmoral, G., Schaap, N. C. E., Walschebauer, J., & Alhajaj, A. (2019). Water diplomacy and nexus governance in a transboundary context: In the search for complementarities. Science of the Total Environment, 690, 85–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitz, C. L., Matyók, T., Sloan, L. M., & James, C. (2012). The relationship between social work and environmental sustainability: Implications for interdisciplinary practice. International Journal of Social Welfare, 21(3), 278–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schockman, H. E., & Rebstock, C. (2017). The role of global food banks as an alternative, non-profit business model: Advancing peace, alleviating food insecurity and contributing to global sustainability. Business, Peace and Sustainable Development, 2017(9), 3–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scoones, I. (2016). The politics of sustainability and development. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 41(1), 293–319.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seghezzo, L. (2009). The five dimensions of sustainability. Environmental Politics, 18(4), 539–556.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharifi, A., Simangan, D., & Kaneko, S. (2020). Three decades of research on climate change and peace: A bibliometric analysis. Sustainability Science (online first). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-020-00853-3.

  • Sharifi, A., Simangan, D., & Kaneko, S. (2021). The literature landscape on peace-sustainability nexus: A scientometric analysis. Ambio, 50, 661–678. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-020-01388-8.

  • Sharma, E., Yan, Z., & Sharma, B. (2007). ICIMOD’s regional rangeland program for the Hindu-Kush-Himalayas. Mountain Research and Development, 27(2), 174–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shrivastava, P., & Suazo, A. E. (2017). Peaceful sustainability. Business, Peace and Sustainable Development, 2017(10), 28–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simangan, D. (2019). International peacebuilding and local involvement: A Liberal renaissance? Oxon/New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Simangan, D., Virji, H., Hendrix, C., Islam, M., et al. (2021). A co-designed exploratory research framework on peace and sustainability. Unpublished manuscript.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skarlato, O., Byrne, S., Ahmed, K., Hyde, J. M., & Karari, P. (2013). Grassroots peacebuilding in Northern Ireland and the border counties: Elements of an effective model. Peace and Conflict Studies, 20(1), 4–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swain, A., & Krampe, F. (2011). Stability and sustainability in peace building: Priority area for warfare ecology. In G. Machlis, T. Hanson, Z. Špirić, & J. E. McKendry (Eds.), NATO science for peace and security series C: Environmental security (pp. 199–210). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tal, A. (2007). International water law and implications for cooperative Israeli-Palestinian transboundary water management. In I. Cooper, T. Kuhne, & V. P. Polishchuk (Eds.), NATO security through science series C: Environmental security (pp. 213–236). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Theisen, O. M. (2008). Blood and soil? Resource scarcity and internal armed conflict revisited. Journal of Peace Research, 45(6), 801–818.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • United Nations (UN). (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. UN Doc. A/RES/70/1, October 21.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). (2001). Indicators of sustainable development: Guidelines and methodologies (2nd ed.). UNDESA.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2015). Convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage. Bonn: UNESCO.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). (2009). From conflict to peacebuilding: The role of natural resources and the environment. Nairobi: UNEP.

    Google Scholar 

  • Urdal, H. (2005). People vs. Malthus: Population pressure, environmental degradation, and armed conflict revisited. Journal of Peace Research, 42(4), 417–434.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Von Uexkull, N., Croicu, M., Fjelde, H., & Buhaug, H. (2016). Civil conflict sensitivity to growing-season drought. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(44), 12391–12396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wendling, Z. A., Emerson, J. W., de Sherbinin, A., Esty, D. C., et al. (2020). 2020 environmental performance index. New Haven: Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, H., & Goldman, L. (2015). Managing resources for livelihoods. Environmental Forum, 32(4), 28–33.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dahlia Simangan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Sharifi, A., Simangan, D. (2021). Environmental Sustainability: The Missing Pillar of Positive Peace. In: Standish, K., Devere, H., Suazo, A., Rafferty, R. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Peace. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3877-3_35-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3877-3_35-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-15-3877-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-15-3877-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Political Science and International StudiesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics