October,  6, 17 CEST/18 EEST

Speaker: Dr. Tetiana Gardashuk

H.Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy, NASU

Title of the talk: "The weaponization of nature as a manifestation of anti-vitality of war"

Abstract. The full-scale Russian aggression in Ukraine (24 February 2022) changed the world drastically. The scale of it and its global impact raised numerous questions concerning human rights, international safety, justice, etc., all requiring solutions both urgent and viable in the long-term perspective. The negative human and environmental impacts of Russian aggression in Ukraine are among them. The war destroys landscapes, ecosystems, habitats, and populations of species. It disrupts the natural life support systems and violates the inherent “Nature’s right to exist” and the principle of biophilia. I consider the war to be an anti-vital phenomenon, and thus a crime against life and “the world as a community” (Mitwelt), which includes both nature and everything which is involved in it [Meyer-Abich, 1993], while peace is a universal and vital value.

One of the particular features of the current war is the severe weaponization (that is the use as a weapon of something that is not conceived under the usual meaning of this word) of different kinds of resources – water, energy, and food.

Since it is not possible within one seminar to analyze in detail all aspects of nature weaponization in the current Russo-Ukrainian war I will focus my presentation on weaponization of water and its multiple negative effects for the environment and humans, as well as on the role of values for valuing and efficient management and protection of water and the equitable and just access to it.