On 5 Nov 2001, the UN declared 6 November as, 'World Day to Protect the Environment in War'.  

Besides dead and wounded soldiers and civilians, destroyed cities and livelihoods, WAR also results in rapid long-term environmental degradation, damaging critical ecosystems and biodiversity hotspots. The environment becomes an unseen victim of war, as water wells are polluted, crops torched, forests cut down, soils poisoned and animals killed to gain military advantage. The advent of chemical and nuclear weapons has worsened the situation. For instance, chemical agents used in the Vietnam War destroyed a great part of the vegetation, leading to the migration of many species of animals due to the habitat degradation. The Rwandan genocide caused a massive migration of its citizens to Tanzania - presently, Democratic Republic of Congo. This large displacement of people negatively impacted the ecosystem and threatened local natural resources.

No wonder then the UN attaches great importance to ensuring that saving the environment is part of conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peace building strategies — because there can be no long-lasting peace if the natural resources that sustain livelihoods and ecosystems are ruined. 

So, today, on Nov 6, it is meet to reflect on how ordinary people can save our natural resources by preventing war. This is in keeping with the Preamble of the UN Charter: ‘We the people of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war’.

Shanti Sahyog Center for Peace & Conflict Resolution (SS CPCR) petition #ChooseNonviolentDefence is in line with the above, inviting world citizens to protest against war and choose to resolve conflicts nonviolently.  Along with saving lives, this will conserve our natural habitat too - meeting the needs of not only the present but future generations as well.

For Mahatma Gandhi, nature provided a stimulus, “I need no inspiration other than Nature’s. She has never failed me as yet. She mystifies me, bewilders me, sends me to ecstasies.”

So, dear Signatories, let us today resolve anew, to join Gandhi’s advocacy of nonviolent conflict resolution, and in doing so, greatly reduce the carbon footprint caused by war and the production and use of military, nuclear, chemical and biological weapon arsenals.