Issue #333 – Oct 13, 2026

Announcements

Call for Abstracts — Symposium on Environmental Peacebuilding in Mountain Areas: Bio-cultural Diversity and the Arts of Living on Damaged Slopes

October 13, 2026 | Environmental Peacebuilding Association and Unit for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Innsbruck

The Environmental Peacebuilding Association (EnPAx) and the Unit for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Innsbruck invite abstracts for a three-day symposium on environmental peacebuilding in mountain areas.

Request for Proposals to Host the Sixth International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding

October 12, 2026 | Environmental Peacebuilding Association

The Board of Directors of the Environmental Peacemaking Association® (EnPAx®) invites proposals to host the Sixth International Conferences on Environmental Peacebuilding in 2030.

Call for Papers: The Role of Militaries in Global Sustainability: Linkages, Impacts, Activities, and Operations

October 9, 2026 | Cambridge University Press

Global environmental change is accelerating and compounding conflict and security risks.

Environmental Community Organising (ECO) Fellowship [Deadline: October 15, 2026]

October 9, 2026 | ArtPeace: Earth

The ECO Fellows Program is a funded, hands-on training opportunity for young leaders who are interested in nature, peace, and collective action for sustainable justice.

Events

For more upcoming events on environmental peacebuilding, please visit our online calendar of events.

Science Talk: Legal Pathways to Promote Water Cooperation in the Amu Darya Basin

October 21, 2026 United Nations University, Institute for Water, Environment and Health
online

Afghanistan is a riparian of the Amu Darya, yet it still sits outside the regional water governance arrangements rooted in the Soviet era.

The Impacts of Military Activity and War on the Planet

October 14, 2026 Institute for Systems Engineering and Computers (INESC) at Coimbra
online

GHG emissions from military activity and war are largely kept secret. Neither the Kyoto Protocol nor the Paris Agreement mandated transparency or accountability for them.

No Security without Food Security

October 14, 2026 Robert Bosch Stiftung, Welthungerhilfe, and Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict
Berlin, Germany and online

As security debates focus on military increasingly threats and defense spending, another fundamental dimension risks on overlooked: food security.

Library

In the last two weeks, 11 new publications were added to our online library of materials on environmental peacebuilding. Here is a sampling of the new additions:

Environmental Peacebuilding in Central Asia: Shared Challenges and Solutions (chapter in "Towards Sustainable Future of Central Asia: Analysis of Climate, Resources and Human Security")

October 10, 2026 | Stefanie Wesch, Kathleen Hermans, Anna Sperber, Larissa Kogutenko, and Jürgen Scheffran
Advances in Global Change Research

As challenges with respect to climate change are worsening, with adverse impacts on natural resources such as arable land and water, the role of climate mitigation and adaptation measures is increasingly garnering scholars’…

ReImagine Gallery [Multimedia]

October 9, 2026
ArtPeace: Earth

The field of environmental peacebuilding has grown rapidly in the past few decades, prompting discussions about its future directions.

Greening in Turbulent Times: Insights into Civic Ecology Practices across Ukraine

October 9, 2026 | Marine Elbakidze, Oksana Pelyukh, Nataliya Stryamets, Madeleine Bonow, Sara Teitelbaum, Marianne Krasny, and Thomas Elmqvist
Sustainability Science

Armed conflicts generate profound disruptions to social and ecological systems, weakening institutions, degrading ecosystems, and undermining community resilience. Yet less is known about how grassroots environmental stewardship persists under prolonged crisis conditions.

Addressing the Environmental Consequences of Conflict, towards the Full Protection of Civilians

October 9, 2026 | Doug Weir
Conflict and Environment Observatory

This paper argues that any full assessment of conflict harm must comprehensively account for environmental harms, and that full protection of civilians requires full protection of the environment.

And Now Who Governs the Forest? State and Rebel Environmental Governance in the Colombian Amazon

October 9, 2026 | Juan Corredor-García
Latin American Perspectives

The 2016 Peace Agreement between the Colombian State and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) sought to end a sixty-year civil war, yet unexpectedly accelerated environmental damage in the…

Uncovering Hidden Water Insecurity: A Conflict-Augmented, Equity-Weighted Machine Learning Framework for Global SDG 6.1 Risk Assessment

October 8, 2026 | Kiran Kishor Maharana, Prasenjit Bhavathankar, and Renuka Pawar
Sustainable Development

Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6. 1—universal safe drinking water access by 2030—demands forward-looking risk intelligence that moves beyond trend extrapolation, yet monitoring frameworks report current coverage and cannot anticipate its deterioration.

Revisiting the Link between Natural Disasters and Civil Conflicts

October 7, 2026 | Yasutaka Tominaga and Chia-yi Lee
Conflict Management and Peace Science

This research note revisits the link between natural disasters and civil unrest and argues that the relationship is inverted U-shaped.

Key Factors of Violent Natural Resource-Related Conflicts and Their Implications for Post-Conflict Forest Landscape Restoration: A Systematic Review of the Resource-Conflict Nexus Using Causal Network Analysis

October 5, 2026
Sustainability Science

A large body of research has explored linkages between natural resources and peace and conflict dynamics.

Jobs

Please visit our jobs page to view these positions and other job opportunities.

Remote: Consultancy – Food Insecurity and Armed Groups

October 12, 2026 | Geneva Call

Geneva Call is a neutral and independent humanitarian organization working to improve the protection of civilians in armed conflict.

Libya: Disaster Preparedness ECHO Project Coordinator

October 12, 2026 | Norwegian Red Cross

North Africa is increasingly vulnerable to climate-related hazards, environmental degradation and socio-economic pressures. In Libya, these risks are compounded by fragile infrastructure, institutional fragmentation, displacement and unequal access to essential services.

Yemen: Country Director

October 12, 2026 | ZOA International

ZOA is an international NGO supporting people who have lost everything due to armed conflict or natural disaster.

Syria: Senior Project Officer (Assistant to the Chief of Party)

October 12, 2026 | Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development

Founded in Afghanistan, against the backdrop of a forgotten crisis, Acted’s mission is to save lives and support people in meeting their needs in hard-to-reach areas.

Nepal: Coordinator - United Nations University (UNU) Hub [Fixed-Term Project Position]

October 12, 2026 | International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development

The UNU Hub at ICIMOD is a newly established collaborative platform that advances research, education, and partnerships to strengthen the resilience of mountain communities in the HKH region facing climate and socio-economic change.

Somalia: Expression of Interest: Annual Resilience Measurement - SomReP

October 12, 2026
World Vision

Somali Resilience Programme (SomReP) is a consortium of seven international NGOs and one local NGO whose aim is to tackle the challenge of mitigating the effects of recurrent shocks and stressors and alleviating…

Kenya: Regional Programme Specialist (Regional Responses to Climate Displacement)

October 12, 2026 | International Organization for Migration

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is the UN Migration Agency. With 175 member states, it is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society.

International News

In the last two weeks, 33 international news items on environmental peacebuilding were posted on our website. The following is a sampling:

Ecocide: Iran FM Calls for Intl. Accountability for Environmental Destruction in Conflicts

October 11, 2026 | Hamid Babaee
Fars

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi announced Iran’s readiness to join collective efforts to prevent large-scale environmental destruction, strengthen regional cooperation, and enhance international accountability during armed conflicts.

Liberia: The Resource Curse! —Sirleaf Challenges a Century-Old Concession Model to Finally Break the Cycle

October 9, 2026 | William Q. Harmon and David A. Yates
Observer

Former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has reopened one of the country’s oldest and most consequential economic debates—why a country endowed with extraordinary natural resources has struggled for generations to convert that wealth into…

Afghanistan: UNICEF Reports Positive Impact of Water and Health Investments in Parwan

October 8, 2026 | Mohammad Farhaad
Hasht-e-Subh Daily

Tajudeen Oyewale, the representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Afghanistan, says that investment in the water and health sectors in Parwan Province has had positive impacts.

Food Security: Armed Conflict Accelerates Global Cropland Loss: Study

October 8, 2026
Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters

Armed conflict accelerates cropland loss, and the effects can persist for years after conflict begins and vary substantially with conflict severity and social conditions, according to a new study published in Nature Food…

Falkland Islands: How an Oil Project Reignited UK-Argentina Falklands Dispute

October 8, 2026 | Arthur Sullivan
Deutsche Welle

Argentina and the UK once fought a war over the Falkland Islands.

Pakistan: Pine Nut Forests under Threat in South Waziristan

October 7, 2026 | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber News

Centuries-old pine nut forests in Angoor Adda, part of Tehsil Birmal in Lower South Waziristan, are being cut down without restraint.

Afghanistan: This City Is on Track to Run out of Water by 2030. For Many Residents, That Day Is Already Here

October 6, 2026 | Laura Paddison and Masoud Popalzai
CNN

Kabul is on track to be the first modern city to run out of water, and could do so as soon as 2030, according to a recent report from the nonprofit Prosper Global.

Bangladesh/India: Same River, Same Drought: Can Teesta Farmers in Bangladesh and India Build the Water Dialogue Their Governments Haven’t?

October 5, 2026 | Masum Billah
Peace News Network

From an anthropological perspective, this is not simply a diplomatic failure story, it is a story about how a state border reorganizes an agrarian region that was, and in many everyday senses still…

Eritrea/Ethiopia: Ethiopia and Eritrea Cut Diplomatic Ties as Northern Conflict Escalates

October 2, 2026 | Wycliffe Muia
BBC

Ethiopia and Eritrea have severed diplomatic relations as renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia raises fears of a wider regional conflict.

Egypt/Ethiopia: Egypt and Ethiopia Expel Diplomats in Tit-for-Tat Diplomatic Row

October 2, 2026 | Hamza Hendawi
National

Egypt and Ethiopia are expelling diplomats in a tit-for-tat row that marks a new escalation in their already tense relations.

DRC: Cobalt’s Silent Cartel: China, Kinshasa and the DRC Export Quota

October 1, 2026 | Arman Sidhu
Geopolitical Monitor

Zijin Mining, one of China’s largest mining companies, disclosed in its half-year report that flooding at the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could cut its share of 2026…

Colombia: From Landmines to Rainforest Guardians: How Clearing Colombia's Battlefields Could Help Indigenous Communities Save 18,000 Hectares of Rainforest

October 1, 2026
HALO Trust

The world’s largest landmine clearance charity, The HALO Trust, along with Rainforest Trust and Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) are embarking on a groundbreaking partnership to clear landmines from almost 18,000 hectares (nearly 45,000…

Iran: Geneva Conference Highlights Iran’s Environmental Crisis as a Human Rights Emergency

October 1, 2026 | Mostafa Aslani
Iran News Update

The deepening human rights crisis in Iran is inseparable from a wider environmental catastrophe that is increasingly affecting the population’s access to water, clean air, health, livelihoods, and basic living conditions, Norwegian politician…

Conflict Minerals: Mineral Resources: Root Cause for Civil Wars across Africa

September 30, 2026 | Sujayendra Das
Asian Age

The relationship between minerals and civil war is complex. It would be misleading to argue that mineral resources alone cause Africa's conflicts.

Iraq/United States: Explainer: How the US Controls Iraq's Oil Revenues

September 29, 2026 | Ahmed Rasheed
Reuters

US forces are set to withdraw on Wednesday from their last bases in Iraq, a departure celebrated as a victory by Iran and its allies, which have deep influence in the country where…

Blogs & Opinion

In the last two weeks, 7 blogs & opinion pieces on environmental peacebuilding were posted on our website. Here is a sampling:

Russia’s Plan to Target Ukraine’s Water Supply Would Set a Dangerous Precedent

October 8, 2026 | Brynn Tannehill

Russia is reportedly preparing to strike Ukraine’s water and electrical infrastructure this winter, as the war stalls, Russian casualties mount and more of its jet-powered drones and ballistic missiles get through Ukraine’s defences.

Resilient Food Systems and the Nature-Climate-Conflict Nexus

October 8, 2026 | Lauren Herzer Risi and Carolyn Gruber

Food systems depend on healthy ecosystems as much as they depend on a stable climate and peace.

New Data Reveal Weakening Emissions Reporting and Rising Military Spending

October 7, 2026 | Grace Alexander

The case for mandatory military emissions reporting under the UNFCCC is growing stronger with every flood and heatwave.

Beyond a Legacy of War: Integrating Mine Action into Climate Security

October 6, 2026 | Hana Manjušak and Barbara Magalhães Teixeira

The past year has seen a weakening of the international norm against the use of anti-personnel landmines.

Ready for What? Rethinking Climate Finance Readiness in Fragile Countries

October 6, 2026 | Elena Kiryakova, Mauricio Vazquez, and Manisha Gulati

New ODI Global research asks why climate finance readiness programmes have so rarely translated into investment at scale at fragile and conflict-affected states – and what needs to change.

Could Environmental Cooperation Help Pave the Way for a More Stable Gaza?

September 29, 2026 | Jonah Naghi

EcoPeace’s proposed Peace Triangle seeks to connect Gaza’s rehabilitation with water, energy, economic, and security cooperation.

Join the Association

The Environmental Peacebuilding Association® (EnPAx®) is the leading global network that brings together practitioners, researchers, and decision makers working on environment, conflict, and peace. EnPAx includes both individual and institutional members. If you have any questions regarding membership, please contact us at membership@environmentalpeacebuilding.org.

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About Our Community of Practice

Environmental Peacebuilding is a knowledge platform and global community of practice on natural resources, conflict, and peace, hosted by the Environmental Peacebuilding Association. The platform unites a global network of researchers, practitioners, and decision makers in sharing experiences and lessons from managing natural resources in fragile states and conflict-affected settings. The platform also helps people to access new publications on the topic, conduct new research, and participate in events to support the growth of the field. As part of our Community of Practice, we bring you biweekly updates on recent developments, including news about our program as well as links to new publications, upcoming conferences and events, and job openings.

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