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Conflict and Environment Observatory
@ceobs.org
2.5K followers 2.6K following 680 posts
CEOBS is a UK charity that provides a voice for our environment - and those who depend upon it - when it faces harm from armed conflicts and military activities. Our military and conflict greenhouse gas emissions project is @militaryemissions.org
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ceobs.org
It's #EnvConflictDay; we're making progress but the challenges are huge.

More people are aware and care than ever before but the rules that are supposed to protect the environment in war are broken daily, and it's people and ecosystems paying the cost.
Text reads: Nov 6 is the UN day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict. Today there are more wars than at any point since World War II, and our shared environment faces unprecedented pressure from climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and desertification. Wars devastate the environment, damaging ecosystems on land and at sea, and undermining the life support systems people depend on. Protecting the environment from war is not optional, it’s a necessity.
November 6, 2025 at 11:56 AM
ceobs.org
We're working on a deep dive into the environmental data needs for #Ukraine's recovery, a project supported by @OSCE and also relevant to #Sudan and #Syria; post-war recovery must be responsive to the climate, biodiversity and pollution crises. 1/3
A small seedling grows from brown soil, the background is the yellow and blue of the Ukrainian flag, a water droplet hanging from the left hand leaf of the seedling refracts the colours so they appear upside down within it.
October 30, 2025 at 2:26 PM
ceobs.org
New paper suggests that the GHG emissions for a decade of reconstruction in #Ukraine would be 741 Mt CO2, 4x Ukraine’s pre-war annual territorial emissions. iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
October 22, 2025 at 9:57 AM
ceobs.org
How's your autumn going? Intense? Us too.

It's always our busiest time of the year thanks to all the international events that take place.

They are amazing opportunities to speak up on conflict and the environment but it's A LOT. Right now we're two down, five to go. 👇
Logos, left to right: IUCN Congress, Montreal Climate Security Summit, GROMADA conference, Berlin Climate and Security Conference, Rebuild Ukraine conference, COP30, UNEA. A green arrow with text says "we are here", it points to the gap between the Montreal conference and GROMADA.
October 17, 2025 at 2:51 PM
ceobs.org
We're at the #IUCNCongress, yesterday Doug spoke about earth observation and #citsci tools that would allow youth peacebuilders to develop shared environmental narratives in areas affected by armed conflicts. Thank you to the session's Armenian hosts!
October 12, 2025 at 1:02 PM
ceobs.org
Environmental issues are highly relevant for humanitarian crises. Increased environmental pressures - including #ClimateChange - will contribute to a worse humanitarian outlook, undermine resilience and increase conflict risk. 3/7
A complex map of Sudan showing the areas most affected by conflict and by climate risks, and trends of human displacement. Six boxes surround the map with highlights of wartime environmental incidents and trends: water and energy infrastructure damage; biodiversity and forest loss; gold mining; Arba'at dam collapse; oil refinery fire; and crop loss in Gezira.
October 7, 2025 at 11:00 AM
ceobs.org
And even with Captagon production reduced, just disposing of seized pills and precursors presents environmental risks, we found footage of disposal down drains and open air burning. You can read more on this story here: ceobs.org/pills-and-po... 4/4
A triptych with three photos from social media. Left: a red bucket of damp pills is poured down a municipal drain; centre: sacks of pills and related products can be seen piled and burning; right: security personnel walk on top of a huge pile of pills and white sacks of precursor chemicals.
October 1, 2025 at 3:39 PM
ceobs.org
The new Syrian administration has allowed journalists to visit some sites and the photos are grim. Captagon production generates a range of chemical wastes, around 40 kg of highly acidic toxic chemical waste per 1 kg of amphetamine. 3/4
A row of one tonne poly caged bowsers stacked two high, the top layer are stained grey, some on the lower layer are still white in places. Several show a white solidified discharge, this is also coating much of the concrete floor in layers of white residue. It's a grim scene.
October 1, 2025 at 3:39 PM
ceobs.org
The scale of Captagon production was vast, at its height involving huge government sanctioned labs and worth $5.7bn. More recently there has been a shift to smaller mobile labs but the environmental legacy may impact communities nationwide. 2/4
A map of Captagon production sites in Syria and Lebanon shows that formal production was concernatrted in the west of Syria and associated with major cities such as Latakia and Damascus. In the area along the Lebanese border small mobile laboratories are more common. An inset shows a setallite image of the large production lab discussed in teh text, it is a rectangular building with a car park set in arid hills.
October 1, 2025 at 3:39 PM
ceobs.org
This week some of the @ceobs.org team volunteered at the excellent Incredible Farm in #Todmorden. We built an enclosure that will be a protected tree nursery and did battle with brambles.
Seven people stand in a field beside some fencing, the field has several young trees and behind it is a rolling rural landscape of green fields, small clouds are above and the sun is shining.
September 26, 2025 at 11:46 AM
ceobs.org
Yesterday, IUCN Congress adopted a motion on conflict-sensitive conservation and environmental protection in areas affected by conflict and fragility.

No governments or Indigenous groups voted against the motion during electronic voting: iucn-2025.s3.eu-west-3.amazonaws.com/motions/en/0... 1/5
Screen grab of motion text, reads: 057 Ensuring conflict-sensitive conservation and protection of the environment in fragile and conflict situations REAFFIRMING support for conservation in fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS) and for the people who sustain these efforts; NOTING that nature underpins human security, health, livelihoods and well-being; CONSCIOUS of the feedback loops whereby scarcities of natural resources can drive or exacerbate conflict, and conflict damages nature, societal resilience and rule of law; RECOGNISING conflict’s gendered impacts, the exacerbation of conflict from the uncontrolled circulation of arms, and the close geographic overlap between Key Biodiversity Areas and FCS; RECOGNISING that many regions face protracted conflicts and environmental degradation, where conservation efforts are deeply impacted by insecurity, displacement, weak governance and damage to critical ecosystems;
September 25, 2025 at 9:39 AM
ceobs.org
We've developed a conflict damage assessment methodology for this #EU4Environment project supporting #Ukraine.

It's intended to help Ukraine assess war-related damage to #biodiversity in its #EmeraldNetwork protected areas. Join us on 3/10 to learn more: www.eu4environment.org/events/emera...
September 23, 2025 at 11:12 AM
ceobs.org
On Wednesday we're giving evidence to the Irish Senate's Joint Committee on Finance on the climate implications of proposed increases in EU #military spending.

EU progress on military decarbonisation and emissions reporting is being sidelined in the rush to rearm.
Snapshot of webpage for the session, text reads: Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach Submssions 15:30 Opening Statement Conflict and Environment Observatory Conflict and Environment Observatory Briefing Document - Ms Ellie Kinney, The Conflict and Environment Observatory - Ms Niamh Ní Bhriain, Transnational Institute
September 23, 2025 at 7:41 AM
ceobs.org
Learn about current trends relating to the environment in humanitarian disarmament in this chapter we wrote with @paxvoorvrede.nl for @rcw-wilpf.bsky.social's annual briefing book for delegations at the #UNGA #First Committee. reachingcriticalwill.org/images/docum...
September 17, 2025 at 10:58 AM
ceobs.org
The report examines a wide range of military and conflict pollutants, finding that they disproportionately affect #military personnel and people in vulnerable situations, including women, children, Indigenous Peoples, and displaced and rural communities. 2/4
A view over the the Iraqi town of Qayyarah, two storey blocky houses in tan concrete and brick, behind them a large fire and black smoke plume from a burning oil well. In the far distance, several oil fire plumes can be seen on the horizon; the sky above the town is dark from smoke clouds.
September 2, 2025 at 3:02 PM
ceobs.org
A new report from UN #HumanRights Council's Special Rapporteur on Toxics explores how conflict pollution and the toxic remnants of war impact #HumanRights www.ohchr.org/en/documents... 1/4 #IntLaw #IHL
Text reads: A/80/174: Military activities and toxics - Report of the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, Marcos Orellana
September 2, 2025 at 3:02 PM
ceobs.org
While it found "no increase in radiation levels, no chemical residues, and no signs of toxic gases" this may not tell the whole story. Numerous industrial zones have been severely damaged, transformer oils containing PCBs have been lost, and energy sites damaged. 2/3
Satellite view of the Bahri industrial area in Khartoum, with before and after images of the damage. The small industrial units are densely packed, the locations of a warehouses, two plastics factories, a sweet factory, a pharmaceutical factory and an automobile workshop are highlighted, the after image reveals substantial damage to all.
September 2, 2025 at 8:42 AM
ceobs.org
The Hebrides range is located around the Outer Hebrides and St Kilda, an important area for marine #biodiversity www.qinetiq.com/en/hebrides/.... In 2022, the USS Boone was sunk; concerns included pollution and noise disturbance. We'll be requesting an environmental impact assessment. 2/2
August 31, 2025 at 9:25 AM
ceobs.org
The EU should be rewetting and restoring its peat bogs anyway. Degraded peatlands are major emitters and many across the EU have been drained for agriculture, tuning sinks into sources. 2/5
A map of peatland distribution in Europe. Large extents exist in an arc from Ireland through Scotland, eastern Norway, Sweden and Finland, with more fragmented peatlands in the low countries, northern Germany, Poland and the Baltics.
August 26, 2025 at 8:01 AM
ceobs.org
Exciting to hear the #ICJ opinion on state obligations to address the #ClimateCrisis. We provided support to Palestine's delegation, and while the main ruling didn't address conflict emissions, Judge Cleveland's separate opinion did. www.icj-cij.org/sites/defaul... #PERAC #IntLaw
July 23, 2025 at 6:04 PM
ceobs.org
Hundreds of kilometres of coastline have had to be cleared of "mazut" heavy oil. In January, 146 Russian volunteers sought medical treatment and one reportedly died as a result of working on the spill. Huge volumes of contaminated sand require disposal. 5/6
Visualisation, quartered into four images, clockwise from top left: 1) a sand and shingle beach, an undulating black rope can be seen below the high water mark and waters edge - a net used to collect tar balls; 2) Close up of a black dead cormorant lying half covered with sand on a beach; 3) a cove full of white and buff coloured boulders and cobbles, many of them are spattered with black oil; 4) A photo looking down onto a beach, the sea is blue but the beach is covered with around 18 people in white disposable suits, boots and gloves, they appear to be collecting and packaging oil.
July 7, 2025 at 8:11 AM
ceobs.org
Researchers have sought to model the movement of oil from the disaster in the Black Sea, we used social media to track it and it supports the idea that the oil became entrained in the Black Sea's circulatory rim current. 4/6
July 7, 2025 at 8:11 AM
ceobs.org
While the Russian authorities undertook a substantial beach cleaning operation our analysis shows that the wrecks are still discharging oil, a process that accelerates with warmer summer waters. 3/6
Visualisation showing how SAR imagery picks out oil slicks a colour base map using optical imagery of the southern Kerch Strait shows the locations three sections of the sunken ships. Three inset images use black and white SAR imagery to pick out slicks, which appear as black streaks, the images are dated 9, 18 and 31 December 2024.
July 7, 2025 at 8:11 AM
ceobs.org
In December 2024 two Russian Volgoneft tankers foundered in a storm resulting in a spill of 4,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil. The tankers should have been withdrawn in 2015 but in late 2024 it's suspected that they were carrying oil to Shadow Fleet tankers. 2/6
Visualisation, quartered into four images, clockwise from top left: 1) Slightly blurred satellite image of a coastal town, a yellow strip of beach, and the blue sea, stretches of the beach appear black with oil; 2) Satellite image of one of the wreck sites. Most of the image is the sea in shades of mid blue, in the top right a coast line and white cliffs, in the centre of the image the lozenge like shape of a small tanker can be seen, just offshore, between it and the cliffs is a black slick of oil. Three smaller craft are offshore nearby; 3) underwater photo, blurry image of yellow sand lit by dappled sunlight, in the centre a patch is dark brown to black, sediment and shells stuck together with the oil; 4) The stern of a beached Volgoneft tanker, its hull is dark to light blue, the superstructure white, it is encircled by an orange boom to capture oil.
July 7, 2025 at 8:11 AM
ceobs.org
Applications for the post of Researcher: Climate, militaries and conflicts close on July 4.

Interested in applying? Please ensure your application addresses how you meet the essential criteria for the role. This includes eligibility to work in the UK visa-free. Full details: ceobs.org/vacancies
June 30, 2025 at 7:33 AM