Peace Support without Peace Processes: How Track 2 Contributes to Trust-Building and Cooperation through Environmental Dialogue

Date & Time
Jun 17, 2026 | 13.30 - 15.00

Participants
Moderator: Albert Martinez, European Institute of Peace (Belgium)
Nazanine Moshiri, Berghof Foundation (Iran)
Lina Hillert, HD Centre (Germany)
Hisham al-Omeisy, European Institute of Peace (Yemen)

Due to geopolitical competition and persisting challenges in the multilateral system, formal Track 1 peace processes are at a record low, while climate cooperation mechanisms are deadlocked by political tensions and armed conflict. Against this backdrop, dialogue processes at Track 2 that are framed around shared environmental interests offer conflict parties and states an opportunity to address concrete environmental or climate problems, while also serving as trust- and confidence-building measures to unlock political stalemates. This session will start with a short keynote introduction drawing from concrete cases and lessons from environmental peacemaking practice intra-state in Yemen and inter-state in Asia and continue with a roundtable discussion with the audience to help to inform policy and practice more broadly. Participants will gain practical insights into how Track 2 actors foster cooperation between conflict parties, the kinds of impact they can achieve, and their growing role as the relevance and effectiveness of Track 1 processes is diminishing.