Water Webinar Series

Water and Sustainable Development: Impacts of Armed Conflicts on Water

Our next webinar will be Monday 24 February 2025, at 2.00pm (UK Time). 

Watch Event

Impacts of armed conflicts on water can be significant and long-lasting, including direct and indirect pollution of water sources, destruction of infrastructure, disruption of water access for civilians, leakage of salts, toxic materials and heavy metals into freshwater that has long-lasting and yet unknown consequences to human health and the environment, as well as potential weaponization of water by deliberately rendering it scarce and/or insecure, leading to health risks and environmental damage, particularly in areas with existing water scarcity problems.

This webinar will discuss the nature of the impacts of armed conflicts on water resources, types of pressures on the water sector and policies to address them, negative health and environmental consequences due to the lack of access to clean water for the civilian population, and human rights and accountability aspects.

The webinar will be moderated by Prof. Cecilia Tortajada, School of Social and Environmental Sustainability, University of Glasgow. The panel members are Dr Carl Bruch, Environmental Law Institute, Washington, D.C., Prof. Marcos A. Orellana, American University Washington College of Law, Washington, D.C., and Dr Mara Tignino, University of Geneva and Geneva Water Hub, Geneva.

 

Moderator

Professor Cecilia Tortajada is Professor in Practice of Environmental Innovation, School of Social and Environmental Sustainability, University of Glasgow, UK; and Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. She has over 25 years of research, teaching, and consulting experience on water, environment, and natural resources policy and management. Working at present on impacts of global challenges on water, environment, and food securities, societies, and their interlinkages. In 2024, she received an Honorary Doctorate of Science in Technology from Aalto University, Finland, for her important contributions to water and development research and education. She is a past president of the International Water Resources Association, and Member of the OECD Initiative on Water Governance and of the International Selection Committee of the Millennium Technology Prize, Technology Academy Finland.

Panellists

Dr Carl Bruch is the Director of International Programs at the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and the Executive Director of the Environmental Peacebuilding Association (EnPAx).  His work focuses on environmental peacebuilding (especially after conflict), environmental governance, adaptation, and environmental emergencies. He has helped dozens of countries— including many conflict-affected countries—throughout Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe strengthen their environmental laws, institutions, and practices. He has edited more than ten books and authored more than 80 journal articles, book chapters, and reports. He is an adjunct professor at American University School of International Service.  He holds a JD from the Northwestern School of Environmental Law of Lewis & Clark College, an MA in physics from the University of Texas-Austin, and a BS in physics (with additional majors in mathematics and anthropology) from Michigan State University. 

 

Dr Marcos A. Orellana is the UN Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights, and in that role reports to the UN Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly. He is also Professor at the American University Washington College of Law, where he teaches international law and environmental law courses. Professor Orellana’s practice as legal advisor has included work with United Nations agencies, governments and non-governmental organizations. His practice as climate negotiator has included work representing the eight-nation Independent Association of Latin America and the Caribbean (AILAC) in the negotiations of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Professor Orellana has appeared before several international courts and tribunals, including the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the European Court of Human Rights, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes and the World Trade Organization. Professor Orellana has extensive experience working with civil society around the world on issues concerning global environmental justice. He was the inaugural director of the Environment and Human Rights Division at Human Rights Watch. Previously he directed the trade and the human rights programs at the Center for International Environmental Law. Professor Orellana has also lectured at universities around the world, including Melbourne, Pretoria, Geneva, George Washington, and Guadalajara. He was a fellow at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. and a visiting scholar with the Environmental Law Institute in the U.S.

 

Dr Mara Tignino is Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law and the Global Studies Institute at the University of Geneva and Senior International Law Specialist of the Platform for International Water Law at the Geneva Water Hub. Dr Tignino has been Visiting Professor at Renmin University of China, the University of Barcelona, the Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali (LUISS) and the Catholic University of Lille. She was also a Visiting Scholar at the George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C. Dr Tignino acts as an expert and legal adviser for States and international organisations. She is a member of the Coordinating Committee of the Interest Group of “International Organisations” of the European Society of International Law (ESIL) and former co-chair of the Interest Group on Water of the Environmental Peacebuilding Association. She holds a Ph.D. in international law from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva and a Habilitation à diriger des recherches (HDR) from the Faculty of Law of the University Jean Moulin Lyon 3.

 

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First published: 10 February 2025