Blogs & Opinions

Afghanistan: Mining War in Afghanistan

Oct 23, 2026 | Abdullah Mustafvi

Iraq: Iraq’s Gas Flaring Crisis: Burning Sovereignty and Billions in Public Revenue

Oct 22, 2026 | Halo Hassan Saeed

Iraq and the Kurdistan Region face a striking energy paradox: a country rich in oil and natural gas continues to waste valuable energy resources through…

First Edition of Climate Security Talk: What Can We Control Ourselves in Terms of Critical Raw Materials?

Oct 22, 2026 | Kevin Rossi and Sina Khoshsima

The first Climate Security Talk at TU Delft | Campus The Hague focused on critical materials, circularity, and Europe's industrial resilience.

From TAPI to CASA-1000: How Can Afghanistan Benefit from Energy Corridors?

Oct 19, 2026 | Kamran Yeganegi

For Afghan consumers, the practical questions concern supply: who will receive the gas, at what price, and through which distribution network? These questions deserve as…

Who Holds the Valve? Water, War and the Price of Peace

Oct 18, 2026 | Kator Ifyalem

Water now sits at the centre of African security politics. The pressure comes from three directions at once, dams being built faster than agreements are…

Pezeshkian Calls Environmental Destruction Caused by Regional Wars 'Ecocide'

Oct 17, 2026 | Middle East Eye

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has called the destruction of ecosystems caused by the "wars of aggression" an act of "ecocide", urging the international community to…

Nature, Peace and Security at COP17

Oct 17, 2026 | Doug Weir

The 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) is the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) current plan to halt and reverse the collapse of global biodiversity…

Food Warfare Is on the Rise as a Conflict Strategy

Oct 15, 2026 | Down To Earth

Use of food as a weapon, in both Ukraine-Russia and West Asia wars, will only threaten global food security and exacerbate hunger crises.

Qosh Tepa Canal: Afghanistan’s Water Rights in the Shadow of the Aral Sea Disaster

Oct 14, 2026 | Shahid Sohail

The Qosh Tepa Canal, under construction in northern Afghanistan, is more than an irrigation project. It is a test of Central Asia’s ability to manage…

IUCN WCEL Hosts Expert Discussion on Colombia’s Proposal to Include Environmental Destruction in Crimes against Humanity Convention

Oct 13, 2026 | IUCN WCEL Environmental Security and Conflict Law Specialist Group

Following Colombia’s landmark proposal to include Environmental Destruction in the forthcoming Convention on Crimes Against Humanity, the IUCN WCEL joined partners in hosting an event…

Climate Security: Everyone’s Mandate, Nobody’s Budget

Oct 12, 2026 | Florian Krampe

At panel discussions and in conversations between attendees at the Berlin Climate and Security Conference, hosted by the German Foreign Office on October 6, 2026,…

From Commodities to Conflict: Fueling Sudan’s War Economy

Oct 9, 2026 | Alessandra Bajec

This paper examines Sudan’s war as a self-sustaining political economy embedded in regional and global supply chains. It argues that the conflict persists as armed…

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

Oct 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…

Resilient Food Systems and the Nature-Climate-Conflict Nexus

Oct 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. Yet the distinction between an ecological signal and…

New Data Reveal Weakening Emissions Reporting and Rising Military Spending

Oct 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

Oct 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. While this would have clear humanitarian and security…

Ready for What? Rethinking Climate Finance Readiness in Fragile Countries

Oct 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…

South Sudan’s Oil Lifeline Runs through a War Zone. Kenya’s New Refinery Offers a Way out

Oct 3, 2026 | Denis Dumo

The world’s newest country lives or dies by a pipeline that runs through someone else’s war, and a $16 billion to $17 billion refinery on…

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

Sep 29, 2026 | Jonah Naghi

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

Dr. Santino Ayuel Longar Dau: The Lawyer and Scholar Helping Reform South Sudan’s Oil Industry

Sep 26, 2026 | Ajong Mbapndah L

From war and refugee life to Canadian universities, the legal profession, academia and the leadership of South Sudan’s petroleum sector, Dr. Santino Ayuel Longar Dau…

Creating Asean’s Climate Security Architecture

Sep 26, 2026 | Glenn S. Banaguas

As one of the world’s most ecologically vulnerable regions, Southeast Asia faces unprecedented exposure to anthropogenically-driven climate disruptions. These environmental stressors do not exist in…

Five Things Climate Actors Need to Know about Conflict at COP31

Sep 25, 2026 | Ecosystem for Peace

War, militarism, and geopolitical rivalry are shaping the climate agenda, from energy markets to multilateral trust. Here’s what to know walking into COP31, and what…

Climate Change Is Fuelling African Conflict – Governments Are Developing a Shared Response

Sep 22, 2026 | Katongo Seyuba and Gracsious Maviza

Many African countries face peace and security problems that go far beyond war. These include political instability, violent extremist groups, organised crime and armed militias.…

Conflict Coltan, AI Demand and the Risk of Runaway Harm

Sep 21, 2026 | Emily Iona Stewart and Ashley Thomson

Conflict coltan from the DRC is already finding its way into our electronic devices, and rising AI and data centre demand could accelerate harms and…

Afghanistan: When Pollution Becomes an Economy of Illness

Sep 20, 2026 | Kazim Homayoun

Suppose one day we are asked what the greatest hidden cost of poverty, war, weak governance, and “unregulated development” in Afghanistan is; the answer should…

Give Sustainable Recovery a Chance

Sep 18, 2026 | Anna Ackermann and Doug Weir

Where it exists, armed conflicts undermine environmental governance, and at a time where the environment is under intense pressure. The legacy of this can last…

Regenerative Adaptation: A Path for Future Environmental Peacebuilding?

Sep 18, 2026 | Richard Marcantonio

Violent conflicts are becoming more frequent and more intense in parallel with growing global environmental change, extreme weather events, and corresponding risks to human health…

Beyond Chaos: Launching the Environmental Peacebuilding Glossary in Bogotá

Sep 15, 2026 | Héctor Camilo Morales Muñoz

In Bogotá, the Spanish language prelaunch of Essential Concepts of Environmental Peacebuilding: An A–Z Guide brought the field into conversation with Colombia’s territorial realities, from…

The Iran War’s Climate, Environmental, and Human Security Fallout

Sep 14, 2026 | Alejandro Martin Rodriguez, Joy Arkeh, and Sarah Yerkes

In a region already much affected by climate impacts and conflict dynamics, the continuation of the Iran war will reinforce their relationship and, in turn,…

Afghanistan’s Curse Was Manufactured – and Now Haunts Its Makers

Sep 12, 2026 | Ikramul Haq

Afghanistan is not cursed because copper lies beneath Logar, lapis beneath Badakhshan or iron beneath Bamiyan. It has been cursed by political choices made in…