Natural Resource Management: Development and Environmental Protection in Constitutional Reform Processes

Issues surrounding natural resource ownership, control and wealth distribution remain significant—and often contentious—topics in peace negotiations and constitutional deliberations. In the coming years, it is anticipated that such negotiations will be increasingly complicated by the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.

Despite the growing recognition of gender equality as a cornerstone of sustainable development and the documented benefits of inclusive decision-making processes, women are frequently sidelined from influential roles in negotiations on natural resource management.

As a step towards challenging this exclusion, the Fifth Women Constitution-Makers’ Dialogue—hosted by International IDEA together with the Edinburgh Centre for Constitutional Law and as part of the Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform (PeaceRep)—focused on comparing experiences at the country level. It discussed the negotiation, design and implementation of natural resource management and governance structures and, crucially, how inclusive approaches to natural resource management may help minimize the chances of triggering or reigniting conflict.