Environmental Peacebuilding Association

Blogs & Opinions

Negotiations at Gunpoint: Does US Pressure on Ukraine for a Minerals Deal Amount to Unlawfully Procuring a Treaty by Use of Force?

Apr 17, 2025 | Jeremy Pizzi and Maksym Vishchyk

American attempts to coerce Ukraine into giving up its valuable mineral resources are unseemly, but they may also threaten the validity of such a deal…

From Risk to Resilience by Securing Wildlife Stockpiles in Liberia, Sierra Leone

Apr 16, 2025 | Charles Henson

The authors recently traveled to Sierra Leone and Liberia as part of an Elephant Protection Initiative Foundation (EPIF) project to help improve the security of wildlife…

Security Aspects of Climate Change

Apr 15, 2025 | Yasuko Kameyama

Climate change is unarguably the most urgent issue threatening human society. The global average temperature in 2024 was the highest in recorded history, reaching 1.55…

Bridging Policy and Practice: Key Insights from the Water, Peace and Climate Conference in Kenya

Apr 14, 2025 | Daisy Kosgei

Have you heard the tale of a hummingbird saving a huge forest from a fire? While all other animals fled in fear and panic, the…

Critical Minerals Were Once for Renewables. Now They’re for War

Apr 14, 2025 | Cat Rainsford

Critical minerals have in recent years been central to global visions of a greener future. Finding enough lithium for batteries in electric vehicles, or rare…

The Guardian View on Donald Trump’s Congo Deal: Mineral Riches for Protection

Apr 13, 2025 | Guardian

"The vilest scramble for loot that has ever disfigured the history of human conscience” is how Joseph Conrad described colonial-era concessions granted to private companies…

Climate, Conflict, and Extremism: Ghana’s Security Challenges in the Sahelian Spillover

Apr 8, 2025 | Chiara Avanzi

The central Sahel is one of the regions most affected by climate change. Temperatures are rising 1.5 times faster than the global average, rainfall patterns are…

Minimising the Environmental Impact of Landmine Clearance While Maximising Its Benefits

Apr 4, 2025 | Linsey Cottrell

Globally, around 60 million people live in areas affected by landmines and other explosive ordnance. Clearing them is critical for safe access to land and…

Historic Border Agreements and Intergovernmental Cooperation in the Fergana Valley Give Hope for Long-Term Peace

Apr 4, 2025 | Ilya Jones

There has been a whirlwind of progress on building peace between the governments of Central Asia’s Fergana Valley region, where the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan…

Starving for Rain: How Drought and Conflict Are Fueling Ethiopia’s Food Emergency

Apr 3, 2025 | Centre of Excellence on Emerging Development Perspectives, VisionRI

Ethiopia is facing a severe food security crisis due to prolonged drought, with over 20 million people in need of assistance as crops fail and…

Left Behind: Why Afghanistan Cannot Tackle Climate Change Alone

Apr 3, 2025 | Assem Mayar

Afghanistan is among the ten countries that have historically received inadequate climate funding, alongside Chad, South Sudan, Somalia, Niger, Mali, Yemen, Ethiopia, Uganda and Iraq.…

From Conflict to Coexistence: Thriving Together with Wildlife

Mar 31, 2025 | Nilanga Jayasinghe

Around the world, people and wildlife are sharing space more than ever before. Since 2021, over half of Earth’s terrestrial surface has been shared by…

In War-Torn Sudan, a Gold Mining Boom Takes a Human Toll

Mar 26, 2025 | Omnia Saed and Fred Pearce

As civil war rages in Sudan, a surge in gold production is helping finance and arm the warring factions. Most of the mining is done…

Military Climate Action Has Never Been More Urgent, Here’s Why

Mar 25, 2025 | Ellie Kinney

Ellie Kinney explores why ramping up military spending while military decarbonisation is in its infancy risks locking in carbon-intensive military equipment for decades, why spiralling…

War and Resource Grabbing, Two Sides of the Same Violence

Mar 24, 2025 | Edward Mukiibi

The winds of war are blowing more violently and more widely across the planet. The battle for resources draws the lines of world geopolitics, revealing…

Why a US-DRC Minerals-for-Security Deal Could Backfire

Mar 24, 2025 | Cullen S. Hendrix

In March 2025, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) approached the Trump administration with a high-stakes proposal: a deal that would grant…

Harnessing the Benefits of Water Cooperation in an Increasingly Complex World

Mar 21, 2025 | Susanne Schmeier, Melissa McCracken, and Aaron Wolf

In an era of apparent decline in international cooperation and rising crises, freshwater offers an area in which joint approaches remain absolutely essential—especially since water…

Conflict Sensitive Engagement with Rangelands, Forests and Wetlands in South Sudan

Mar 21, 2025 | Martina Santschi and Conflict Sensitivity Resource Facility

This blog by Martina Santschi and CSRF calls for a conflict-sensitive engagement on communal land tenure, especially the use of rangelands, forests, and wetlands in…

The Critical Minerals Scramble: How the Race for Resources Is Fuelling Conflict and Inequality

Mar 20, 2025 | Emily Iona Stewart

The extraction and trade of some critical minerals is intensifying new geopolitical tensions and reinforcing long-standing patterns of exploitation. Many of these resources are concentrated…

Border Breakthrough: Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan End Decades of Dispute

Mar 19, 2025 | Yevgeniya Mikhailidi

When Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon exchanged firm hugs after signing a historic border treaty last week, they signaled relief over…

The GROMADA Project: Citizen Science for Environmental Protection and Accountability in Ukraine

Mar 19, 2025 | Iryna Babanina and Doug Weir

Participatory environmental monitoring in areas affected by armed conflict has always been an important area of interest for CEOBS. Alongside documenting the severe environmental damage…

Can Climate-Resilient Agriculture Become an Engine for Syria’s Post-Conflict Recovery?

Mar 19, 2025 | Frans Schapendonk and Sara Rabie

Syria finds itself at a crossroads. Faced with the imminent need to prevent a relapse into renewed short-term insecurity, its government also must start to…

CEOBS’ Citizen Science Water Quality Hackathon for Ukraine

Mar 19, 2025 | Conflict and Environment Observatory

Armed conflicts disrupt water systems that are critical for human wellbeing and environmental safety, and since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, CEOBS has been documenting…

The Heat and the Fury: On the Frontlines of Climate Violence (Review)

Mar 16, 2025 | Marc Martorell Junyent

Although climate change does not directly cause conflict, it makes violence more likely to occur and to be more intense. The effects of climate change…

Environmental Peacebuilding: The Year in Review and the Year Ahead

Mar 14, 2025 | Angus Soderberg

As 2025 marches into its third month, the governance challenges that accompany rising demand for natural resources are not only on the front burner—they are…

‘Resource Curse’ in the Oil-Wealth Countries: Lessons from South Sudan, Venezuela, and Indonesia

Mar 12, 2025 | Lengga Pradipta

Countries with abundant natural resources, including fossil fuels, typically experience economic prosperity. For decades, many economists have claimed that resource richness significantly impacts economic development;…

From Navigational Disruptors to Ecocriminals: The Environmental Impact of the Houthi Anti-Shipping Campaign in the Red Sea

Mar 12, 2025 | Leonardo Jacopo Maria Mazzucco

The Houthi assaults on shipping traffic in the Red Sea are deliberate acts of marine pollution and environmental destruction. While security and economic considerations have…