Utilising Digital Technologies For Environmental Peacebuilding: Opportunities And Risks

As a digital innovation organisation aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, we are fascinated by the intersection of technology and global challenges. Recently, UN Environment Programme published a comprehensive report that explores how digital technologies can be used for environmental peacebuilding.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Environmental Peacebuilding Association (EnPAx) have collaborated on a comprehensive survey of digital technology applications within environmental peacebuilding. This initiative aims to scan both the opportunities and risks these technologies present across the peace and security continuum.

Why This Matters

Environmental peacebuilding is a holistic approach that addresses the role of natural resources and the environment in conflict prevention, mitigation, resolution, and recovery. In many regions, the impacts of armed conflict, unsustainable resource exploitation, and climate change are intensifying environmental degradation, contributing to fragility, instability, and insecurity.

Digital technologies offer unique opportunities to enhance environmental and resource management efforts in a manner that fosters trust-building and peaceful relationships. However, their application is not without risks and can, in some cases, inadvertently cause harm.

Key Findings

The report identifies five overarching benefits that digital technologies can enable in environmental peacebuilding:

1. Benefit-Sharing Transparency: Digital technologies, particularly blockchain and digital ledger technologies, enhance transparency in resource-sharing provisions connected to peace agreements. This transparency ensures all parties have access to the same information, reducing the likelihood of disputes and fostering collaboration.
2. Enhanced Resource Management and Environmental Monitoring: Tools like blockchain, digital product passports, Earth observation, and remote sensing enable sophisticated tracking and monitoring of resources. This is particularly beneficial in situations where illegal resource exploitation has fuelled conflict.
3. Inclusive Decision Making and Collaboration: Digital technologies can include additional stakeholders in decision-making processes about natural resources and the environment. This addresses historic marginalisation and makes agreements more resilient to future climate realities.
4. Capacity Building: Digital technologies enhance capacity building by providing access to training materials, good practices, and knowledge-sharing platforms. This is particularly important for reaching broader audiences in remote or underserved areas.
5. Objective Information and Analysis: Earth observation systems and other remote sensing technologies offer broad access to objective environmental data. This helps level the playing field among stakeholders and is crucial for informed decision-making.

Risks and Challenges

While the potential benefits are significant, the report also highlights five key risks that need to be addressed:

1. Top-Down Implementation: The application of digital technologies in environmental peacebuilding often follows a top-down approach, neglecting user needs and lacking human-centred design.
2. Over reliance on Digital Technologies: Excessive dependence on digital technology can sideline local capacities, traditional knowledge systems, and trust-building processes critical for sustainable resource management.
3. Data Security, Privacy, and Bias Challenges: The integration of digital technologies introduces significant data security, privacy, and bias risks, especially in fragile states with weak regulatory frameworks.
4. Amplification of Misinformation: Digital technologies can inadvertently amplify misinformation about natural resources, conflict, and peace, potentially driving new tensions and conflicts.
5. Digital Divide and Literacy Gaps: The digital divide and lack of digital literacy often hinder the widespread use of digital technologies in environmental peacebuilding, potentially exacerbating existing inequalities.

Recommendations

To address these challenges and maximise the potential of digital technologies in environmental peacebuilding, the report offers five key recommendations:

1. Adopt a Human-Centred, Participatory, Conflict-Sensitive Approach: The deployment of digital technologies must be guided by a human-centred design philosophy, actively involving local communities and stakeholders at every step.
2. Integrate Digital and Traditional Knowledge Systems: Effective environmental peacebuilding requires the integration of traditional knowledge systems with digital technologies for a comprehensive strategy of managing natural resources, the environment, and climate.
3. Establish Robust Data Protection and Privacy Standards: In fragile situations, establishing and enforcing effective data protection regulations is essential. This includes implementing privacy-preserving measures and developing spatial data infrastructures.
4. Combat Misinformation and Enhance Information Integrity: Initiatives aimed at combating misinformation and promoting digital information literacy linked to natural resources are essential.
5. Promote Digital Inclusion and Literacy: Prioritise policies that bridge the digital divide, expand access to technology and internet connectivity, and establish digital literacy programs tailored to diverse demographic groups.

Case Studies

The report includes several fascinating case studies that illustrate the potential of digital technologies in environmental peacebuilding:

1. Groundswell Project: This initiative uses big data and complex modeling to forecast long-term migration trends related to climate change.
2. Water, Peace, and Security Partnership: This project utilises machine learning and big data to forecast water-related conflicts and support preventive diplomacy interventions.
3. Blockchain for Cacao Farmers in Colombia: This case study demonstrates how blockchain can enhance sustainable cacao production through greater financial independence and traceability.
4. Digital Reconstruction of Land Records in Timor-Leste: This project showcases how digital technologies can support the reconstruction of land records in post-conflict settings.
5. Conflict Tracker Tool in Nepal: This tool helps monitor community-level disputes over land, water, and forests, informing programming and evaluation.

Implications for Digital Innovation

We find this report incredibly valuable. It highlights the immense potential of technologies we work with daily – AI, blockchain, remote sensing, big data analytics – to contribute to global peace and environmental sustainability. However, it also serves as a reminder of the responsibility we bear in developing and deploying these technologies.

The risks identified in the report – from exacerbating digital divides to potentially amplifying misinformation – are challenges we must actively work to mitigate. This calls for a fundamental shift in how we approach technology development and deployment, especially in sensitive contexts like post-conflict regions or areas with ongoing resource-related tensions.

The report's recommendations align closely with principles we strive to uphold at AndAnotherDay:

• Human-centred design: We must ensure our innovations are driven by the needs and realities of the communities they're intended to serve.
• Integration of traditional knowledge: Our digital solutions should complement and enhance, not replace, local wisdom and practices.
• Data responsibility: Robust data protection and privacy standards must be at the core of our technological solutions.
• Combating misinformation: We have a role to play in developing tools and strategies to enhance information integrity.
• Digital inclusion: Our innovations should actively work to bridge digital divides, not widen them.

Moving Forward

This report makes it clear that the success of digital technologies in environmental peacebuilding hinges on our ability to navigate complexities and harness their transformative potential responsibly. As digital innovators, we have a unique opportunity (and responsibility) to contribute to this crucial field.

At AndAnotherDay, we're committed to aligning our projects with the UN SDGs. This report provides a roadmap for how we can more effectively contribute to SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) and SDG 13 (Climate Action) through our digital innovations.

All of us in the tech industry to reflect on how our work can contribute to environmental peacebuilding. Whether it's developing more sophisticated Earth observation tools, creating blockchain solutions for resource traceability, or designing inclusive digital platforms for stakeholder engagement – there are countless ways we can make a difference.

Let's work together to utilise the power of digital technologies for a more peaceful and sustainable world.

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United Nations Environment Programme (2024). Digital Technologies for Environmental Peacebuilding: Horizon scanning of opportunities & risks. https://wedocs.unep.org/20.500.11822/45795.