Issue #330 – Sep 1, 2026

Announcements

Request for Research Proposals: Environmental Conflict, Environmental Peacebuilding

August 25, 2026 | Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen

Environmental peacebuilding approaches examine the ways in which environmental factors and common resources can bring communities affected by violence together, thereby breaking cycles of conflict.

GEF SGP CSO Challenge Program

August 25, 2026 | Global Environment Facility and International Union for Conservation of Nature

Supported by IUCN and GEF, this program helps civil society organizations scale and replicate innovative conservation solutions that deliver global benefits for people and the planet.

Request for Proposals: PeaceCon 2027

August 19, 2026 | Alliance for Peacebuilding

On January 11th - 14th, join the Alliance for Peacebuilding—in partnership with George Mason University’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution and Notre Dame University’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Keough School of…

Events

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

Berlin Climate and Security Conference 2026

October 6, 2026 German Federal Foreign Office, adelphi global, and Climate Diplomacy
online

Since its inaugural edition in 2019, the annual Berlin Climate and Security Conference (BCSC) has established itself as the leading global forum connecting governments, international organisations, researchers, civil society, and practitioners working at…

Course Applications Open: Gender, Conflict, and Peacebuilding Course

September 23, 2026 - 2026-09-25 SwissPeace
Basel, Switzerland

This course will delve into the intersectional relationship between gender, conflict, security, and peacebuilding, catering to policymakers, peacebuilding practitioners, and international development professionals.

Climate, Conflict and Environmental Struggles: Perspectives from Myanmar

September 10, 2026 Danish Institute for International Studies
Copenhagen, Denmark

This seminar explores how decades of conflict in Myanmar have shaped relationships with land, forests, and the climate crisis.

Choke Point: The Law of the Sea and the Strait of Hormuz Crisis

September 8, 2026 FSU Center for Environmental, Energy and Land Use Law
online

Explore the legal framework governing the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical maritime choke points.

Library

In the last two weeks, 13 new publications were added to our online library of materials on environmental peacebuilding. Here is a sampling of the new additions:

Two Narratives of Securitization and Norm Development in Transnational Governance of Critical Mineral Resources: Toward Realpolitik or Sustainability?

August 31, 2026 | Hyeyoon Park
Environment & Security

Amid the rapidly increasing global demand for critical mineral resources driven by the energy transition and the AI revolution, critical mineral governance has become an urgent topic at the intersection of security and…

Conflictual Cooperation in Transboundary Waters: Insights from the Euphrates–Tigris Basin

August 31, 2026 | Amir Safaee, Arda Bilgen, and Saeed Morid
Water International

Transboundary water systems are often characterized by the coexistence of conflict and cooperation.

The Peacebuilding Promise of Environmental Management: Lessons on Environment, Climate Change, Security and Peacebuilding

August 28, 2026
Conciliation Resources

This paper identifies how and when environmental cooperation can support collaboration between conflict parties, and examines how the intentional, inclusive management of natural resources can function as a strategic entry point for conflict…

Extraterritoriality, Climate Change, and National Security: In Defense of Extraterritorial Laws

August 28, 2026 | Danielle Ireland-Piper
American Journal of International Law

Extraterritorial jurisdiction inherently tests the boundary between sovereign governance and international cooperation. It hovers between unilateralism and cosmopolitan conceptions of obligation.

Highlight: Beyond Scarcity: Understanding the Drivers of Farmer-Herder Conflicts

August 28, 2026
Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and adelphi

Conflicts between farmers and herders, more precisely between pastoral, agro-pastoral and agricultural communities, arise when land uses and livelihoods compete for the same resources.

A Pacific Climate–Peace Nexus

August 28, 2026 | Timothy Bryar and Jamie Tarawa
Toda Peace Institute

This policy brief argues that the Pacific Islands region offers a distinct and instructive approach to thinking about the relationship between climate change and peace.

Advancing Environmental Peacebuilding: Pathways for Progress

August 28, 2026 | Olivier Serrat
Springer

This book offers a concise, interdisciplinary introduction to environmental peacebuilding—an emerging field at the nexus of climate change, conflict transformation, and natural resource governance.

Shared Waters, Shared Stakes: Science Diplomacy and Conflict Prevention in the Bay of Bengal [Audio]

August 28, 2026 | Josephine Collier and Alexandra Steinkraus
adelphi

The Bay of Bengal is home to a quarter of humanity, and it is under pressure.

Conflict Economies and Peace Operations

August 25, 2026 | Erica Gaston, Catharina Nickel, Nicole Goldin, and Rebecca Hinkhouse
United Nations University Centre for Policy Research

Competition over mineral wealth has long been intertwined with conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Jobs

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

Syria: National WASH Sector Co-Coordinator - Damascus

August 31, 2026 | GOAL

Established in 1977, GOAL is an international humanitarian and development agency, committed to working with communities to achieve sustainable and innovative early response in crises, and lasting solutions to poverty and vulnerability.

DRC: Environmental Health/WASH Coordinator

August 31, 2026 | International Rescue Committee

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster.

CAR: Lead Conservation Pilot, Northeastern Central African Republic

August 31, 2026 | Wildlife Conservation Society

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a US non-profit organization founded in 1895.

Yemen: Integrated Climate, Natural Resources, Climate-Smart Agriculture and Agroecology Assessment & Value Chain, Capacity Building and Barrier Analysis

August 31, 2026 | Solidarités International

Solidarités International (SI) is an international humanitarian organization that has been providing life-saving assistance and supporting vulnerable populations affected by conflict, disasters, and climate-related crises for more than 40 years.

Lebanon: Strategic Advisory and Coordination Expert – Ministry of Environment

August 31, 2026 | UN Development Programme

For over six years, Lebanon has been facing a prolonged economic, financial, and social crisis.

Rwanda: Regional Environmental and Social Safeguard Coordinator

August 31, 2026 | Wildlife Conservation Society

The Wildlife Conservation Society is an international NGO headquartered at Bronx Zoo in New York City, USA, working to save wildlife and wildlands and to meet global challenges in over 60 countries in…

Environmental Peacebuilding Volunteer

August 21, 2026 | Environmental Peacebuilding Association

The Environmental Peacebuilding Association® (EnPAx®) is seeking Visiting Attorneys (law degree holders), Visiting Researchers (graduate degree holders or professionals), Law Clerks (current law students) and Research Interns (current or recent undergraduates) to assist…

International News

In the last two weeks, 26 international news items on environmental peacebuilding were posted on our website. The following is a sampling:

Afghanistan: Taliban Minister Says Mineral-Rich Afghanistan Open to US Investments in New Pitch for Bilateral Ties

August 31, 2026 | Arpan Rai
Independent

Relations between Afghanistan and US should not be assessed through the lens of the past 20 years of war, but rather on the basis of future co-operation, says Taliban minister.

India/Pakistan: India Must Uphold Water-Sharing Treaty with Pakistan, International Court Says

August 31, 2026
Reuters

India must uphold a water-sharing treaty with Pakistan it suspended amid bilateral tensions and must limit work on an hydroelectric plant it is building in the ‌Kashmir region, the Permanent Court of Arbitration…

India/Pakistan: Political Disputes Must Not Affect Indus Treaty: Experts

August 30, 2026 | Anwar Iqbal
Dawn

Pakistan should not allow political and security disputes to become a justification for departing from the Indus Waters Treaty, participants at a policy dialogue in Washington said, stressing that such issues should be…

Climate Change: Can the Business of Climate Security Drive Peace in the Middle East?

August 28, 2026 | David Lyons
Pioneers Post

EcoPeace Middle East aims to deliver stability to the region through private investment in climate security projects, but the organisation's directors believe impact investors are too risk-averse to support its work.

Liberia: ‘They Will Do It Legally or Illegally’: Interview with James Giahyue on Liberia’s Cocoa Boom

August 26, 2026 | Ashoka Mukpo
Mongabay

As editor-in-chief of news outlet The DayLight, Giahyue has guided extensive coverage of environmental issues in Liberia.

Philippines: DENR: Climate Resilience Should Be Part of ASEAN Security Agenda

August 24, 2026 | Marita Moaje
Philippine News Agency

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has emphasized the need to treat climate resilience as part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) security agenda, noting that climate change has…

Water: Where Water Conflicts Pose the Biggest Threat in 2026

August 23, 2026 | Amr Alkazaz
Al Jazeera

The sharp rise in water-related conflicts in recent years is in focus as the World Water Week conference begins on Sunday in Sweden’s capital, Stockholm, and online.

DRC: 54 US Lawmakers Accuse Trump Administration of Risking Rights in Congo Minerals Deal

August 21, 2026
New Times

Dozens of members of the United States Congress have raised concerns about the Trump administration’s critical minerals agreements with the DR Congo and other countries.

Egypt/Ethiopia: Egypt-Ethiopia Nile Dispute Expands into a Contest for the Horn

August 20, 2026 | Giorgia Valente
Media Line

Ethiopia’s plans to build three additional hydropower dams on the Blue Nile have reopened one of Africa’s most persistent geopolitical disputes, less than a year after Addis Ababa formally inaugurated the Grand Ethiopian…

Food Security: Will Food Insecurity Spark 'Large-Scale Conflict'?

August 20, 2026 | Ben Fajzullin
Deutsche Welle

Climate change and conflict are testing the global food supply. Insecure access to food drives up inequality and has historically been behind episodes of upheaval.

Israel/Palestine: At a Gaza Zoo, War Takes Its Toll on the Animals

August 18, 2026 | Mahmoud Issa and Nidal Al-Mughrabi
Reuters

There were a number of zoos in Gaza before the conflict between Israel and Hamas erupted, displaying exotic and wild animals including lions and eagles, municipal records show.

Land: Restoring Land, Building Peace

August 18, 2026
UNDP

Healthy land underpins food production, livelihoods, biodiversity and human well-being. But today, climate change, unsustainable land use and increasingly frequent droughts are placing growing pressure on land-based ecosystems.

Blogs & Opinion

In the last two weeks, 13 blogs & opinion pieces on environmental peacebuilding were posted on our website. Here is a sampling:

Gas and Peace: Can Energy Trade Contain Egypt-Israel Conflict?

August 31, 2026 | Nourhan Hefzy

Can economic ties help contain conflict between Egypt and Israel, or do they simply postpone confrontation?

Climate Change as a Security Threat: Climate Risks into Defence Policy

August 29, 2026 | Laiba Awan

Canada has increasingly integrated climate change into its defence strategy, recognizing it as a threat multiplier affecting military readiness, infrastructure resilience, Arctic security, and operational effectiveness.

How the ‘Climate Table’ Is the New Peace Table

August 29, 2026 | Hafed Al-Ghwell

The choice is becoming clearer at every drying well; climate governance will either reinforce legitimate institutions, or armed groups will govern the scarcity for captive constituents.

Water Scarcity in the Colorado River Basin: A National Security Assessment

August 27, 2026 | Small Wars Journal

The Colorado River system provides water to around 40 million people and supplies 5 million acres of farmland in the American southwest.

Egypt’s Choices on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

August 23, 2026 | Hamdy A. Hassan

The Ethiopian dam marks the beginning of a new phase in crisis management, where the conflict has shifted from preventing construction to dealing with the status quo.

Data Centres and Democratic Decline Could Lead to More Water Conflict in the Future

August 23, 2026 | Ryan Durante

Transboundary waters — rivers, lakes and aquifers residing in more than one country — are facing challenges due to climate change, with conflicts over these waters increasing.

The Indus Waters Treaty Is Becoming South Asia’s Next Strategic Flashpoint

August 20, 2026 | Saima Afzal

For more than six decades, the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) has been one of the world’s most durable examples of cooperation between adversarial neighbors.

Violence, Profit, and the Economy Sustaining Eastern Congo’s Endless War

August 19, 2026 | Chhai Bunsonareach

At a checkpoint between Miba and the Kachanga hill in Fizi territory, soldiers of the Congolese army wave through bicycles loaded with mineral ore, one at a time, charging fifty cents a crossing.

Wildfires and Extreme Heat Show Climate Change Is Now Europe’s Biggest Security Threat

August 18, 2026 | Patrick Schröder

The continent is increasingly vulnerable to arson attacks, while climate disasters are diverting militaries from other threats. Policymakers must respond with a security-based approach to climate change.

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.

Sharing and Posting Materials

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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.

Please visit us at www.environmentalpeacebuilding.org for more information.

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Compiled by Buket Altınçelep, Maria Camilla Cadonici, Morgan Dreibelbis, Liz Hessami, and Madeleine Loll
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