Environmental Peacebuilding: 2019 in Review

Jan 14, 2020 | Environmental Peacebuilding Association
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2019 saw many practical, conceptual, and institutional developments in environmental peacebuilding. We are pleased to share with you some highlights from the year.

Accomplishments in 2019

2019 was a momentous year in many ways.  The International Law Commission continued its work on international law protecting the environment in relation to armed conflict, and the UN Security Council continued its targeted engagement on the linkages between environment and security. Scholarship and news coverage was robust. The Environmental Peacebuilding Association grew, expanding its membership and activities to consolidate the field of environmental peacebuilding.

Here are a few milestones from 2019:

  • A significant development in 2019 was the growth of the Environmental Peacebuilding Association. The Association was launched in 2018 to support the consolidation of environmental peacebuilding as a field by: fostering knowledge development and exchange; building capacity and awareness; and strengthening relationships between scholars, practitioners, and decisionmakers working on issues related to environment, conflict, and peace. By the end of 2019, there were more than 400 individual members from 63 countries on 6 continents, and 17 institutional members of the Association. The membership composition is 75% professional and 25% student. The Association engaged the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) to serve as the Secretariat, and the Association now provides an enduring institutional home for the Environmental Peacebuilding Knowledge Platform, the Environmental Peacebuilding Community of Practice, the biweekly Environmental Peacebuilding Update, and social media outreach. By the end of 2019, the Association had established eight Interest Groups (on Disasters & Resilience, Education, Forest Resources, Gender, Law, Monitoring & Evaluation, Water, and Young Professionals), and was exploring other Interest Groups.
  • The Environmental Peacebuilding Knowledge Platform (www.environmentalpeacebuilding.org/), the leading global platform on issues related to natural resources, conflict, and peacebuilding, continues to grow. This year, we added 808 Library items, 74 Announcements, 170 Events, 267 Jobs, 990 International News articles, and 336 Blogs & Opinion pieces. At the end of 2019, we have over 4,200 Library items.
  • The Environmental Peacebuilding Community of Practice added 580 members this year. The Community is now almost 3,900 people strong, with members from more than 120 countries.
  • This year we celebrated six years of publishing the Environmental Peacebuilding Update, our biweekly e-newsletter highlighting recent developments relating to natural resources, conflict, and peace, with links to new publications, international news, upcoming conferences and events, and job openings. Today marks the publication of the 157th issue.
  • Our presence on social media has continued to grow. This year, we posted 413 Tweets that generated over 295,000 impressions. A growing number of people follow @EnvPeacebuild on Twitter, increasing to more than 1,930 at the end of 2018 (a one-year increase of approximately 25%). The Environmental Peacebuilding Facebook page has continued to gain popularity, with over 1,150 likes. Finally, the Environmental Peacebuilding LinkedIn group grew by more than 30% over the past year, now totaling 1,202 members.
  • Under the leadership of Dr. Marja Lehto, the Special Rapporteur on Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflict, the International Law Commission (ILC) continued its consideration of the topic, adopting a set of draft principles on the first reading (expected to be finalized in 2021).
  • On October 23, 2019, the sixth Al-Moumin Award on Environmental Peacebuilding was presented to Dr. Nancy Lee Paluso from University of California Berkeley, whose work has brought together understandings of land, violence, resource access, power, and political economy to answer crucial questions about the causes of conflicts, and the ways in which addressing political, social, racial, and gender inequalities can decrease conflict. Her work has been important in developing a complex understanding of the ways in which social difference affects resource access and control, and the ways in which conflict, power, and resource access are intertwined, especially around forests. The annual Al-Moumin Award and Lecture recognizes leading thinkers who are shaping the field of environmental peacebuilding and is hosted by ELI, UN Environment, the School of International Service at American University, and the Environmental Peacebuilding Association.
  • Our massive open online course (MOOC) on Environmental Security and Sustaining Peace was run a second time (in the synchronous format), and a third time in a self-paced format.  The second running attracted 7,200 people from 176 countries, and the self-paced iteration (ongoing through June 2020) has more than 2,000 people from more than 130 countries with more joining each week.  The MOOC was developed by UN Environment, ELI, UC-Irvine, Columbia University, and Duke University, in partnership with the nascent Environmental Peacebuilding Association. More information is available at https://epmooc.org.
  • The Association held the First International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding on October 23-25, 2019, at the University of California, Irvine.  The biennial conference brought together 240 members of Association and the international community (with representation from more than 40 countries) to share experiences, learn from one another, and strengthen the bonds within the community. The first conference emphasized two special themes: (1) technology and innovation in environmental peacebuilding, and (2) environmental peacebuilding in Colombia. The conference also cover other important topics related to environmental conflict and peacebuilding.

Favorites of 2019: Editor’s Picks

2019 was a busy year for environmental peacebuilding. With over 4,200 Library items and over 6,000 International News items on the Environmental Peacebuilding Knowledge Platform, there is a lot to read. Here are some of our favorites from 2019:

808 publications, videos, and other items were added to the online Library.  Here are some selected noteworthy publications:

Of the 990 news articles posted on the Knowledge Platform in 2019, here is a selection of some of our favorite stories: