November 6th, 2026

The International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict is observed on November 6 to draw attention to the damage war does to nature and to the role natural resources play in conflict. The United Nations General Assembly declared the day on November 5, 2001, and it has been marked every year since. Wars poison water supplies, burn crops and forests, kill wildlife, and leave land contaminated long after the fighting ends. During the 1991 Gulf War, retreating Iraqi forces set more than 600 Kuwaiti oil wells on fire and released huge amounts of oil into the Persian Gulf. The herbicide Agent Orange, sprayed during the Vietnam War, left a long legacy of health and environmental harm in Vietnam and among American veterans. According to the UN Environment Programme, at least 40 percent of internal conflicts over the past 60 years have been linked to natural resources such as timber, diamonds, gold, oil, fertile land, and water. The day calls on governments and armed forces to protect the environment during conflict and to make sound management of natural resources part of building lasting peace.