"Studying Conflict’s Impact on the Environment" with the Conflict and Environment Observatory

About this episode

The episode discusses the environmental consequences of warfare and the importance of open-source research in uncovering these impacts.

This week, we explored one of war’s less visible consequences: its devastating impact on the environment. How large is the ecological footprint of conflict? What do we know about the long-term harm caused by bombing, heavy machinery, and the waste left behind—and how these pollutants affect both human health and fragile habitats? In this episode, Eoghan Darbyshire of the Conflict and Environment Observatory reveals how his team tracks the immediate and lasting environmental fallout of warfare around the world. He also underscores why open-source research skills are indispensable for uncovering damage that often remains hidden in plain sight. The talk was hosted by Charlotte Maher on Thursday November 20th 2025. Music featured is courtesy of Artlist. Recorded live in the Bellingcat Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/bellingcat Links discussed: CEOBS: https://ceobs.org/ Ukrainian forest tracker: https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2023/08/18/a-new-tool-shows-what-war-has-done-to-ukraines-forests/ Guide on visualising conflict and displacement data…

People in this episode

Host: Charlotte Maher

Guest: Eoghan Darbyshire

Topics covered

• environmental impact of conflict
• war and ecology
• open-source research
• pollution from warfare
• human health and habitats

Keywords

• conflict
• environment
• pollution
• warfare
• open-source research
• human health
• ecological footprint

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Conflict and Environment Observatory, Bellingcat, CEOBS

Places: Ukraine

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