Landmines are possibly the most catastrophic weapons of war, after atomic bombs. They still affect people and areas decades after conflicts are resolved and, besides the countless innocent lives they claim, they are also detrimental to the environment and the redevelopment of affected areas.
Plastics and metals are spread into the environment when a mine explodes, ultimately making their way into the soil and affecting its structure. Even without exploding, buried mines can leak chemicals, leading to hazardous reactions, soil and groundwater contamination. Moreover, landmine terrain has a higher erosion and abrasion rate.
Ahead of the COP29, themed “In Solidarity for a Green World”, which will be held in Baku in November, Azerbaijan has also hosted the 3rd International Conference on Mitigating the Environmental Impact of Landmines, focused on Resource Mobilization for a Safe and Green Future.
As the Government of Azerbaijan prepares to host COP29, it is more urgent than ever to commit to the broader challenge of landmines and their environmental impacts.
Ivana Jivkovic, Assistant Secretary-General to Director of the Regional Office for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States of the UN Development Program
“Mines and unexploded ordnance continue to remain an acute problem posing threat to people’s security across many countries. Along with jeopardizing human life, the mines seriously challenge socioeconomic development, damage the environment and cultural heritage, hinder post-war recovery and development initiatives, and ultimately impede the Sustainable Development Goals, even decades after wars have ended”, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Hikmet Hajiyev, read from President Ilham Aliyev’s address at the conference in Zangilan, on 30 May.
Showing its commitment to the issue, last year Azerbaijan adopted humanitarian demining as an 18th National Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), complementing the UNs global 17 SDGs. The national initiative is based on the fight against mine threats and emphasises the importance of combating mine and explosive ordnance contamination.
As one of the most affected countries by landmines, areas that were once suitable for agriculture in Azerbaijan have lost their fertility and productivity due to mine contamination that has caused “ecological destruction”, highlighted Vugar Suleymanov, Chairman of the Board of the Demining Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (ANAMA). The rivers, lakes, springs, wells and canals in the affected areas have all been contaminated with “deadly mine load that poisons their waters and worsens the ecological crisis”.
Addressing the devastating effects of landmines is not a new issue. Back in 2022, the EU reaffirmed its commitment to achieving a mine-free world by 2025. As the second biggest donor in mine action worldwide, with a contribution of over €365 million over a 5-year period, the EU has been providing mine action assistance such as mine clearance, mine risk education, stockpile destruction and assistance to victims in over 15 countries around the world.
With just 7 months left until 2025 and no worldwide landmine clearance in sight, achieving a mine-free world seems unlikely. A completely mine-free world might never happen, but putting it on the COP29 agenda and establishing humanitarian demining as a global SDG will surely help resolve the issue.
