Building a sustainable peace: How peace processes shape and are shaped by the international legal framework for the governance of natural resources

Dam-de, Jong D.A. (2019)

Article / Letter to editor

Natural resources are strongly connected to the onset, duration and recurrence of armed conflicts. However, even after an armed conflict has formally ended, natural resources can be an important trigger for a relapse into armed conflict. For these reasons, it is of the utmost importance, both from a security and a development perspective, to address natural resources as an integral part of the peace process. This article aims to assess how provisions in peace agreements addressing natural resource governance are embedded in the international legal framework. It inquires into the particularities and legal nature of peace agreements and examines the various functions of natural resource arrangements as part of peace agreements. Finally, as each category of natural resources comes with distinct legal questions and peacebuilding challenges, the article zooms in on water governance as a case study to explore the different ways in which natural resource arrangements in peace agreements and international law interact. The analysis is based on a study of 40 intra‐State agreements, including the 2015 South Sudan agreement, the 2015 Mali agreement and the 2016 Colombian agreement.

• international law
• peace agreements
• water
• sustainable development
• human rights
• security

• All authors: Dam-de, Jong D.A.
• Date: 2019
• Journal: Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law