Since 2001 the United Nations (UN) has declared November 6th the 'International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict'.

While the impact of conflicts is normally measured in losses of life and the destruction of property, the day hopes to draw attention to the environmental costs including damage to natural resources and increased pollution.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called on nations to reaffirm their “commitment to protect the environment from the impacts of war, and to prevent future conflicts over natural resources."

The UN singles out control of environmental resources as one of the main causes of armed conflict. Its studies found that 40% of all internal conflicts over the last 60 years have been fought over control of natural resources.

These resources range from essentials like fertile land, oil and other fuels, to valuable scarce minerals like diamonds and coltan. Coltan is an essential component of most electronic consumer goods, 80% of the world’s coltan is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Conflicts fought over natural resources have also been found to be twice as likely to relapse into violence after an initial peace agreement is reached.

The Geneva Convention has special provisions regarding the targeting of natural resources during conflicts. It outlaws actions "which are intended, or may be expected, to cause widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment."

The United States Department of Defence is the country's biggest consumer of fossil fuels. 2007 figures showed that the US military emitted the same amount of CO2 as a small European country.