Blogs & Opinions

PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Are in Munitions, and Other Military Applications Too

Feb 17, 2025 | Linsey Cottrell

Amidst growing international pressure to ban PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ over their toxicity and environmental persistence, their military applications beyond firefighting foams have received limited attention.…

Q&A: Should Climate Be a National Security Issue?

Feb 13, 2025 | Omair Ahmad

In his new book, 'Climate Security', Ashok Swain argues that climate issues are so important and urgent that they must be treated as national security…

The Inspiring Model of Community Conserved Territories in Myanmar: Launch of the Thawthi Taw-Oo Indigenous Park

Feb 13, 2025 | Karen Environmental and Social Action Network

Amidst conflict and displacement, the need to preserve the lands of the people and natural environment is urgent. But visionary endeavours are still continuing. In…

Building Resilience: Closing the Climate Knowledge Gap in the US Military

Feb 12, 2025 | Emily Pesicka

Climate change is a “threat multiplier” that intensifies existing vulnerabilities, disrupts operations, and introduces new security risks. While the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has…

Replacing One Polluting Sector with Another? The Perils of Shifting from Coal to Livestock in Cesar, Colombia

Feb 12, 2025 | Daniela Maestre and José Vega Araújo

Governments seeking to reduce economic dependence on fossil fuels need to replace these revenue sources with growth in other sectors. SEI experts, using Cesar, Colombia…

Closing Climate Security Gaps Requires More Reliable Data on Climate Finance

Feb 12, 2025 | Abeer S. Ahmad

A recent SIPRI study revealed a range of issues in how climate finance is reported and analysed. It focused on reported commitments and disbursements of…

Why Conflict Mineral Narratives Don’t Explain the M23 Rebellion in DR Congo

Feb 11, 2025 | Judith Verweijen and Christoph Vogel

The capture of North Kivu’s provincial capital, Goma, by the M23 armed group last month has multiplied international coverage of the forgotten crisis in eastern…

How the World Can Tackle the Yawning Gender Gap in the Sciences

Feb 10, 2025 | UNEP Nature Action
UNEP

With the planet facing a barrage of environmental concerns, there has never been a greater need for scientists capable of finding solutions to the triple…

A Blueprint for Sustainable Peace: The White House and Middle East Waters [Audio]

Feb 9, 2025 | Noam Bedein

The Abraham Accords represent an unprecedented opportunity to integrate water diplomacy and regional sustainable tourism into peacebuilding frameworks, transcending politics.

How Climate Change and Conflict Are Fueling a Global Food Crisis

Feb 6, 2025 | VisionRI

Climate change and geopolitical conflicts are creating a global food crisis, affecting crop production, supply chains, and economic stability. As extreme weather disrupts agriculture and…

The Health-Climate-Security Triad

Jan 31, 2025 | J. Stephen Morrison and Katherine E. Bliss

Imperiled health is the human face of climate change. Indeed, the climate crisis is increasingly recognized to be a health crisis. It is a crisis…

Afghanistan’s Untapped Mineral Wealth: A Lost Opportunity or a Path to Stability?

Jan 29, 2025 | Amu TV

Under the Taliban’s current regime, Afghanistan faces an unprecedented erosion of civil freedoms, especially for women. Deprived of their fundamental rights to education, work, and…

Beyond Genocide—Sudan's Overlooked Climate and Health Catastrophe

Jan 22, 2025 | Thurka Sangaramoorthy

The United States' declaration of genocide in Sudan marked a crucial moment of recognition. While this designation appropriately highlighted the deliberate targeting of civilians by…

Why We Need to Start Talking about the Relationship between Climate Change and Security

Jan 22, 2025 | Alice Ruhweza and Eric White

Climate change and the degradation of nature are no longer abstract concepts. They are occurring at pace and reshaping our world; as they do so…

We Must Embrace Complexity to Tackle Climate Change, Conflict and Environmental Degradation

Jan 19, 2025 | Camille Laville and Alice Gore

Climate change and conflict are inextricably linked – yet solutions rarely address the multifaceted nature of these complex, intractable problems. The authors' ongoing research in…

Possibilities for Creating Modern Strategies for Environmental Protection during Armed Conflicts According to International Mechanisms

Jan 16, 2025 | Anita Cucovic and Zyhdi Hajzeri

The protection of the environment during armed conflicts is one of the most important issues that affects the interests of the international community and affects…

What Mercenaries Can Teach Us about Climate-Fuelled Disaster Responses

Jan 15, 2025 | Isabelle Bond

The devastating fires in Southern California, many of which are still burning out of control, have exposed a controversial and increasingly attractive disaster response alternative…

An Opportunity for New Climate Finance Innovations to Expand Energy Access in Fragile Countries

Jan 13, 2025 | Energy Peace Partners

EPP developed the Peace Renewable Energy Credit (P-REC) as a solution for corporate clean energy buyers to support high-impact renewable energy generation and expand energy…

Classic Geopolitics and Today’s Nexus of Conflict and Climate

Jan 13, 2025 | Gerard Toal

From the outset, geopolitics was about exploiting the Earth. Great power competition was a struggle for space, as well as for strategic locations, resources, and…

Restitution of Lands and Territories to Victims of Violent Dispossession and Displacement in Colombia

Jan 9, 2025 | Lucía Vásquez Celis

Forced displacement in Colombia has a differentiated and accentuated impact on women, the ethnic and peasant population, as well as children and adolescents. Frequently, this…

Beyond ‘Critical’ Minerals, Don’t Forget Gold’s Role as a Driver of Economic Growth — and Conflict

Jan 9, 2025 | Brad Brooks-Rubin

In 2025, consumers and global policy analysts could be forgiven for thinking that all that glitters is…cobalt or lithium. With the intense focus of governments,…

Why Is Afghanistan Part of the Great Extractives Race?

Jan 8, 2025 | Mercena Hunter and Paddy Ginn

Afghanistan’s mineral resources harbour great untapped potential. The country sits on an estimated 2.2 billion tonnes of iron ore, 60 million tonnes of copper, 183…

Water Tensions under the Taliban

Jan 8, 2025 | Ali Mahaqi

Since taking over Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban regime has faced escalating tensions with neighbouring countries, particularly over water issues and regional security. The…

Towards a Climate Security Observatory 2.0: Lessons from a Year of Implementation

Jan 7, 2025 | CGIAR

In 2023, the Climate Security Observatory (CSO) launched its first public version, aiming to bridge the gap between climate science and resilient peace. After a…

The Traumas of Unplanned Decarbonization in Fragile States

Jan 6, 2025 | Alex de Waal and Aditya Sarkar

It is widely recognized that oil states are rarely democratic, and often conflict-prone. As these governments wind down their dependence on this toxic resource as…

National Border Security and Environmental Sustainability

Jan 3, 2025 | Saleem H. Ali

While border security has become one of the most divisive issues of our times, there is an opportunity for both sides of the partisan divide…

Abyei-Twic Conflict: Unresolved Issues and Unheeded Recommendations

Dec 29, 2024 | Morris Kuol Yoll

The root cause of the conflict is a land dispute. The Abyei Administration Area has created and adopted the “Abyei Box” map, which crosses the…

How International Conflicts and Wars Threaten Animals and the Natural World

Dec 28, 2024 | Kimberly Moore

War and conflict not only devastate human lives but also inflict catastrophic harm on animals and the natural world, threatening biodiversity, ecosystems, and the planet’s…

Peace through Shared Challenges: Climate Change in the Middle East

Dec 20, 2024 | Tareq Abu Hamed

Nature knows no borders. Today, Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians, and people across the region are facing a more unpredictable climate that threatens natural resources. The region’s…

Liberia: Alliance for Rural Democracy Leads Customary Land Rights Initiative for Affected Communities in SRC and LAC

Dec 19, 2024 | FrontPage Africa

In an effort to address longstanding land ownership issues, the Alliance for Rural Democracy is leading five communities affected by the operations of the Salala…