Blogs & Opinions


Greening the Military: Why Defence Spending Must Align with Climate Action

Aug 14, 2025 | Hema Nadarajah

In preparing for conflicts, we may be compromising our ability to confront the climate emergency. Sustainability must be part of our defence strategy.


Climate Security Is National Security. Africa Is Our First Line of Defense

Aug 12, 2025 | Patrick Verkooijen

NATO’s decision to increase defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product by 2035, including 1.5% for resilience and critical infrastructure, marks the most significant shift…


Minerals over Peace? Rethinking the DRC-Rwanda Accord

Aug 8, 2025 | Batseba Seifu

On June 27, 2025, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda signed what has been touted as a significant peace agreement in Washington, DC—a…


Remembering the Journey: The GERD Dispute and the Promise of Diplomacy

Aug 7, 2025 | Seble Getachew

It is important to remember those early days of the GERD dispute, when there was genuine hope that dialogue and diplomacy would prevail. Back in…


Hallucinating Climate Security: A Cautionary Tale about Generative AI

Aug 6, 2025 | Tobias Ide

Recent studies indicate that over 90% of all students – and an increasing number of policy makers – are using generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to…


Trading Minerals for Security: Why Africa’s Latest Deal Could Backfire

Aug 4, 2025 | Conversation

Recently, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda struck a US-brokered peace deal that exchanges mineral wealth for vague security promises. Signed in June 2025,…


Climate Projects in South Sudan Can Turn Deadly – How to Avoid This

Aug 4, 2025 | Conversation

South Sudan, which has been torn apart by a civil war, is vulnerable to extreme weather events, frequent floods and drought, to which it must…


From Struggle to Strength: A Young Farmer’s Journey Toward Sustainable Prosperity

Aug 4, 2025 | Desalegne Tadesse
CIMMYT

At just 25 years of age, Tigist Adamo’s experience epitomized the daily realities of countless smallholder farmers in South Ethiopia. Confronted by declining crop yields, scarce resources, and…


Somaliland's Hidden Advantage: How Lithium and Location Could Secure Recognition

Aug 3, 2025 | Abdiaziz Mahamoud Yusouf

Since declaring independence in 1991, Somaliland has persistently sought international recognition. Despite notable progress in peacebuilding, democratic governance, and institutional development, the quest for recognition…


UN Migration Agency Warns of Deepening Climate and Displacement Crisis in Somalia

Aug 2, 2025 | Kelechi Onyemaobi

The United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) says that climate shocks and mass displacement caused by conflict have uprooted some 3.6 million people in…


Europe’s Defence Build-up Is a Climate Gamble – Here’s How It Can Course Correct

Jul 31, 2025 | Florian Krampe

Just as NATO adopts an ambitious defence spending target of 5% of gross domestic product, Spain is charting a distinct course. While securing an exemption…


Preventing an India-Pakistan Water War

Jul 30, 2025 | Samaan Lateef

India’s decision to walk away from the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan marks an unprecedented and consequential shift in one of South Asia’s few…


Peacebuilding: The Missing Peace in COP30 Climate Ambition

Jul 30, 2025 | Janani Vivekananda

Peacebuilding, conflict prevention, and crime prevention are no longer niche security concerns—they are global imperatives for sustainable climate action. From the migration crisis in Venezuela…


Somalia’s New Climate Roadmap as a Blueprint for Peace

Jul 29, 2025 | Ann-Sophie Böhle and Kheira Tarif

Somalia’s new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)—the country’s roadmap for climate mitigation and adaptation—does more than outline the country’s climate ambitions. It recognizes the connections between…


Water Serves as Glue of South Asian Climate-Security Axis

Jul 27, 2025 | Nazrin Sadigova

As the global power axis shifts toward Asia, China’s growing role in South and Southwest Asia places it at the forefront of advancing regional climate…


Water Wars: A Historic Agreement between Mexico and US Is Ramping up Border Tension

Jul 25, 2025 | Natasha Lindstaedt

As climate change drives rising temperatures and changes in rainfall, Mexico and the US are in the middle of a conflict over water, putting an…


Paying the People: Liberia’s Novel Plan to Save Its Forests

Jul 21, 2025 | Fred Pearce

Illegal logging and deforestation are on the rise in Liberia, home to almost half of West Africa’s surviving tropical forests. Corruption is rife, and cocoa…


Africa’s Minerals Are Being Bartered for Security: Why It’s a Bad Idea

Jul 21, 2025 | Hanri Mostert and Tracy-Lynn Field

A US-brokered peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda binds the two African nations to a worrying arrangement: one where a country…


The Myth of Mineral Blame in Eastern Congo’s Endless Wars

Jul 21, 2025 | Tessah Keza

Recent developments in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have once again brought media attention to the country’s long-suffering eastern provinces. As coverage resurges, so…


Water Wars in the Making: Are We Headed for Conflict over Access to Aquifers?

Jul 19, 2025 | Maria Faith Saligumba

In a world where water is becoming more precious than oil, are we unknowingly marching toward a future rife with conflict over this essential resource?…


Who Really Profits from Myanmar’s Rare Earths?

Jul 18, 2025 | Min Zan

Rare earth elements (REEs) are a group of 17 metals that play a crucial role in modern technology. Despite their name, they are relatively abundant…


A Case Study of the Ukrainian War: How War Impacts the Environment

Jul 15, 2025 | Dakota Mikita

Conflicts across the world have been a detriment to the environment around them. In Ukraine, natural environments have been devastated by the war, with occupation…


Is Peace Enough? Why Sustainability Requires More Than Stability

Jul 15, 2025 | Richard Marcantonio

Around the world, conflict and environmental risks are on the rise – and they’re often connected in complex ways. In the past five years alone,…


Water Wars: Why South Asia and Africa Must Act before Rivers become Frontlines

Jul 14, 2025 | Queenie Nair

While leaders continue to treat water disputes as peripheral an environmental or technical challenge to be solved by engineers and bureaucrats the truth is far…


Gender, Climate and Conflict: Women Building Resilience in Bangladesh’s Fragile Zones

Jul 12, 2025 | Major Shajeda Akter Moni
Daily Sun

Following June 2024’s flash floods, when over 2.1 million Sylhet and Sunamganj inhabitants lost all, they had, Shaharima Sharna emerged. A LoGIC community mobiliser, she…


‘Natural’ Opportunities for Dialogue with North Korea

Jul 9, 2025 | Saleem Ali

As President Trump considers ways to reengage with North Korea, he might consider environmental cooperation as a way to open a new opportunity for dialogue.…


Fossil Fuels Feed Wars, Green Energy Fuels Peace

Jul 8, 2025 | Thais Lopez Vogel

While the world rightly views the climate crisis as the most urgent threat posed by our dependence on oil, coal and gas, there’s another, often…


New Security Beat Finds a New Home

Jul 8, 2025 | Lauren Herzer Risi

In the wake of last week’s devastating floods in Central Texas, and with the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on the horizon, new data underscores…


Extreme Weather and War: How Climate Change Fuels Global Tensions

Jul 5, 2025 | Shah Fahad

When we think of climate change, melting glaciers and rising sea levels may come to mind. But climate change does more than just affect the…


Lesotho Highlands Water Project: Centre Local Voices in the Climate Change, Conflict and Peacebuilding Nexus

Jul 5, 2025 | Kgomotso Komane

The rise of conflicts in societies has been attributed to a multitude of factors ranging from political, socio-economic grievances to ethnic and religious hostilities. Poverty,…