United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Practice Relating to Rule 43. Application of General Principles on the Conduct of Hostilities to the Natural Environment
The UK LOAC Manual (2004) states:
Methods and means of warfare should be employed with due regard for the natural environment, taking into account the relevant rules of international law. Damage to or destruction of the natural environment not justified by military necessity and carried out wantonly is prohibited.
In the conduct of attacks against targets on land, the manual states that “[t]he natural environment is specially protected”.
In its chapter on maritime warfare, the manual provides:
Methods and means of warfare should be employed with due regard for the natural environment taking into account the relevant rules of international law. Damage to or destruction of the natural environment not justified by military necessity is prohibited.
Under the UK ICC Act (2001), it is a punishable offence to commit a war crime as defined in Article 8(2)(b)(iv) of the 1998 ICC Statute.
In a briefing note in 1991, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office declared that Iraq’s attacks on Kuwaiti oil fields were “a deliberate crime against the planet”.