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Abstract

Climate change poses a growing humanitarian crisis that intersects with armed conflict in complex ways. Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and environmental degradation disproportionately affect populations already living through conflict and displacement. This paper examines how International Humanitarian Law (IHL) including the Geneva Conventions (GC I-IV), Additional Protocols (AP I-III), and customary norms can be applied or adapted to mitigate the humanitarian impacts of climate change during armed conflicts. We survey existing legal provisions, such as environmental protections in IHL and the laws of occupation and analyze recent examples (e.g. Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Mozambique) where climate stressors have amplified human suffering in conflict zones. Drawing on academic literature and authoritative sources (e.g. ICRC publications, UN and NGO reports), we identify gaps in current IHL frameworks and explore conceptual bridges between IHL, environmental law, and humanitarian policy. The findings suggest that although traditional IHL was not designed with climate change in mind, its principles of civilian protection, relief facilitation, and environmental safeguarding provide a basis to address climate-related harms. Notably, norms such as the duty of occupying powers to uphold, laws in force including potentially climate obligations, and prohibitions on attacking civilian resources offer avenues for integration. However, significant gaps remain in explicitly connecting IHL to climate outcomes. The paper concludes with recommendations for legal and policy measures including treaty interpretation, humanitarian programming, and further research to strengthen IHL’s role in safeguarding vulnerable populations against the compounded effects of war and climate change