Beyond the Resource Curse: the strengths and limitations of environmental peacebuilding in the case study of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Since the 20th century, academics have considered natural resources as “curse”, linking it to the development and exacerbation of conflicts, most notably in divided countries and between adverse communities. In more recent years, the pressure on scarce natural resources have increased the necessity of environmental cooperation. Scholars and policy makers have since started considering the possible positive consequences of environmental cooperation and its potential to serve as an incentive for peacebuilding efforts. This thesis project will investigate to what extent this paradigm shift is applicable in the case of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through comparing the effectiveness of environmental cooperation in the high-level political sphere and the non-governmental sphere. It concludes that this case study suggests that environmental cooperation as a pathway for further peacebuilding efforts is most convincing when conducted through non-governmental actors such as research facilities and non- governmental organisations. However, their efforts alone will not lead to a greater scale of peacebuilding or reconciliation as the scope and positive benefits of such initiatives are limited and most visible on a local and personal level. More environmental peacebuilding efforts, and especially a greater variety of contexts, are encouraged to strengthen the field of environmental peacebuilding and provide scholars and academic with greater resources and data to draw from.