Title: Environmental Degradation, a Threat to Environmental Security, Peace and Sustainable Development in Africa: A Case Study of Darfur
Abstract: The environment is one important aspect that sustains man-kind. This sustenance stretches from food resources in the form of biological diversity, land for agriculture employment in terms of tourism, absorption of carbondioxide and exuding oxygen by green vegetation thus sustaining man kind. Despite this importance, the environment still remains the most abused by man in the form of pollution, deforestation, and attack on biological diversity to extinction. All this is done in a bid for human survival; to create land for settlement as a result of population expansion, industrialization, and hunting the different species for food purposes. Some of these activities have negatively impacted on the climate and led to global warming and its negative effects such as desertification. Whereas, it is true that climate change is a creation of affluent western countries and that Africa has contributed little to the build-up of greenhouse gases in the global atmosphere. As such, the West has a moral responsibility to Africa and other developing countries to make resources available to adapt to the predicted impacts of climate change. But African governments cannot afford simply to fold their arms. They should be part of a global campaign to see to it that this harm to the environment is dispensed with because of the global impact it has of which Africa too is affected. These effects have been a breeding ground for conflict over scarce resources arising from depletion of environmental resources as a result of environmental degradation. Using the Basic Human needs theory, this paper seeks to discuss environmental degradation as a cause of conflict in Darfur and the possible reasons for interference with the environment which, among others, is the quest for basic needs. This paper shall also analyse the different forms of environmental abuses, their impact to peace and sustainable development taking a case study of Darfur region of southern Sudan. Similarly the paper discusses the international intervention and different principles of environmental law and protection that have arisen to ensure sustainable development.
Publication Year: 2009
Publication Date: 2009-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 1
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