Economic sanctions are damaging the environment

The US cannot become a climate leader without addressing the environmental impacts of its economic sanctions.

President Joe Biden has been elected on a promise, among others, to move the United States towards an ambitious new climate agenda – a feat that will require a radical transformation of thinking and practices across all areas of American policymaking. For the US to become a global leader in climate policy, and instigate real change, it is integral that this transformation is not limited to domestic affairs, and that America’s actions in the international arena are also guided by a concern for the environment. To do so will require not just increased engagement in climate diplomacy, but a total re-evaluation of America’s hard and soft foreign policy tools, including economic sanctions. In the post-Cold War era, economic sanctions have become the US foreign policy instrument of choice. These measures were initially seen as an effective, and morally acceptable, alternative to conventional war. However, it has since been established that sanctions have impacts on the populations of targeted states that are comparable to those of war, such as increased levels of poverty and significant declines in the GDP per capita. Moreover, economic sanctions also damage the environment, pushing targeted states to pursue aggressive and unsustainable development policies at the expense of accelerated environmental degradation in an effort to survive.