The International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict is quite a mouthful for a holiday name, but it’s one that’s very important. This holiday attempts to prevent the exploitation of natural resources from being used to finance armed conflict and to perpetuate it.

It’s a holiday that’s observed every November 6th and was first created by the United Nations General Assembly. According to the UN’s own internal research, conflicts that involve natural resources such as fertile land, water, diamonds, gold, or oil are more likely to relapse back into conflict after it had already been resolved.

History of this day

As we mentioned in our introduction, this holiday was created by the UN General Assembly in November of 2001. This holiday not only goes by its very long name but also goes by a much shorter name called World Day to Protect the Environment in War. That name for this holiday is much less of a mouthful than the previous one.

Observing this day

Anyone who wants to observe this holiday can do so by thinking about how past and current wars have affected the environment. People can also learn how natural resources can spark armed conflicts between nations.

People should also work towards peace because war destroys the environment, and a destroyed environment then leads to even more war. While you’re observing this holiday, be sure to use the hashtag #WorldDayToProtectTheEnvironmentInWar to spread the word about this day far and wide.