Tuesday (the 18th of December 2018), Director General of GIWEH, Dr. Nidal Salim addressed a large audience gathered at the UK Parliament in London during an event on the subject of "the Role of the Individual in Environmental Protection in Conflict Zones", organized by the European Caucasus House. The event included representatives of the UK government and NGO leaders.
Dr. Salim highlighted the issue of environmental protection within the framework of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. As the environment is one of the three pillars of sustainability, it is also a crucial pillar of human security. Furthermore, because pollution and environmental contamination know no borders, the issue of environmental protection is global and cross-cutting. It is also an area that links scientific research and knowledge with policy, political strategy, and socio-economic decision-making. Therefore, environmental protection requires a solid scientific basis for policy-making and inversely, environmental science requires strong political support.
At the same time, environmental protection provides important opportunities for peace-building. Indeed, at GIWEH we stress the importance of cooperation in environmental protection programs, and encourage projects that cut across borders, promote collaboration and peace, and implement a community-based approach to ensure sustainability of both the environment and of peace.
Dr. Salim further seized the opportunity during this session to urge representatives to form a committee as a follow-up of the work and debate that took place in London, in order to work towards implementing the initiative. A project proposal was indeed produced in London and adopted by the European Caucasus House. As announced and launched officially by Dr. Salim, this long-term project will include 5 different phases.
Dr. Salim requested that the project be further discussed and developed at a 2nd meeting at the UN office in Geneva.
We look forward to further fruitful collaboration on the issue of environmental protection and human security, contributing a holistic and community-based approach to acheive sustainable development and sustainable peace globally.
