Where war rages, there is environmental destruction. For Sweden, there are lessons to be learned from environmental effects from both historical and contemporary conflicts.
Annica Waleij, senior analyst at the Total Defense Research Institute in Umeå, has written a report with proposals for measures to protect Sweden’s environment in the event of war.
She thinks that Sweden should work more actively on this issue.
– Quite a lot is done when it comes to protecting cultural heritage in the event of war, and similar work should be done around environmental, natural and resource issues, she says.
That is how Sweden can be affected
If Sweden were to suffer a war, we can expect, for example, blown up dams, attacks on critical infrastructure and damaged land areas, according to Annica Waleij.
– Dams, nuclear power plants, electricity supply and water works are not military targets but civilian targets. What we can see in Ukraine is that Russia does not follow the laws of war and that has consequences.
Consequences such as floods, emissions of pollutants, and the impact on animals and nature.
Ukraine an example for Sweden
In her report, Anica Waleij proposes several measures. In peacetime, for example, it is important to collect information on critical infrastructure, environmental data and satellite images. When the war is going on, you need to systematically document what happens, in order to create a history of the destruction.
– Ukraine is an example here. A very extensive mapping work is carried out and local residents are also involved who take photographs. They will have that again after the war. And it is also required if you are to be able to hold someone accountable for war crimes.
After a war, adapted methods are needed to relatively quickly make rough assessments of environmental consequences and tools to prioritize the right measures.
– This is not something that one actor can do alone, but many actors are required to work on these issues. And there must be a political will to allocate resources to the work, she says.