Peacebuilding ELI and partners examine how businesses and resource managers can cooperate in former war zones

• Pages: 54-54

Page 54 ❧ THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM Copyright © 2010, Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, D.C. www.eli.org.

Reprinted by permission from The Environmental Forum®, May/June 2010

Making the Law Work for

People, Places, and the Planet

ELI’s Sarah Wegmueller addresses the meeting on natural re-

source management in post-conict societies.

In February, Senior

Attorney Carl Bruch and

Research Associate Sarah

Wegmueller traveled to

Japan, where ELI part-

nered with the University

of Tokyo and the Global

Infrastructure Fund Re-

search Foundation Japan,

to convene a symposium,

Improving Natural Re-

source Management in

Post-Conf‌lict Countries:

e Roles of Businesses

for Human Security.

“e sound manage-

ment of natural resources

is critical to post-conf‌lict

peacebuilding, and busi-

nesses can play a central

role in rehabilitating these

resources and contributing

to the recovery process,”

said Professor Mikiyasu

Nakayama of the Univer-

sity of Tokyo’s Graduate

School of Frontier Sci-

ences.

e symposium drew a

diverse audience of more

than 80 practitioners,

researchers, and students,

who participated in an

animated dialogue about

the role of businesses and

natural resources in post-

conf‌lict peacebuilding.

Some of the most im-

portant players in post-

conf‌lict peacebuilding

are businesses, as they are

often drawn to high-value

natural resources such as

diamonds, oil, timber, and

gold in former war zones.

Miko Watanabe of Uni-

versity of Tokyo, and ELI’s

Sarah Wegmueller —

highlighted multinational

corporations’ experiences

in extractive industries,

ecotourism, and in en-

abling economic recovery.

e symposium ad-

journed with remarks by

Professor Masahiko Kun-

ishima of the University

of Tokyo’s Department of

International Studies.

“is symposium suc-

cessfully brought together

researchers and f‌ield ex-

perts to discuss how busi-

nesses can act as vehicles

for post-conf‌lict economic

recovery,” said Wegmuel-

ler.

e symposium was

supported by a Grant-

in-Aid for Scientif‌ic Re-

search on Priority Areas

of the Ministry of Edu-

cation, Culture, Sports,

Science and Technology

of the government of Ja-

pan and the Alliance for

Global Sustainability of

the University of Tokyo.

It was held as a part of a

global project spearhead-

ed by ELI to strengthen

post-conf‌lict peacebuild-

ing through improved

natural resource manage-

ment.

More information

about the project and

symposium is available at

www.eli.org/Program_Ar-

eas/PCNRM/.

Peacebuilding ELI and partners examine how businesses and

resource managers can cooperate in former war zones

Ranging from large-

scale multinational cor-

porations to micro-enter-

prises, they can create jobs

for local citizens, generate

government revenues,

increase investment in in-

frastructure, and even help

meet basic needs.

Moreover, the private

sector can aid in rehabili-

tating natural resources,

making them more pro-

ductive and developing

infrastructure and human

and physical capacity to

rebuild processing facili-

ties.

e f‌irst keynote ad-

dress, delivered by Prof.

Yasunobu Sato of the Uni-

versity of Tokyo, focused

on the dynamics between

businesses and human

security in post-conf‌lict

countries. Kazumi Kawa-

moto of the University

of Tokyo, Päivi Lujala of

the Norwegian University

of Science and Technol-

ogy, and Siri Aas Rustad

of the International Peace

Research Institute Oslo

composed the f‌irst panel,

which examined experi-

ences with the Kimberley

Process Certif‌ication

Scheme, a procedure cre-

ated to ensure that dia-

monds do not come from

conf‌lict areas, and its rel-

evance to other resources

in post-conf‌lict countries.

Carl Bruch delivered

the afternoon keynote

address, in which he ex-

plored the overarching les-

sons learned for businesses

and natural resource man-

agement in post-conf‌lict

countries.

e second panel of

speakers — Diana Klein

of International Alert,