Blogs & Opinions

Egypt and Ethiopia: The Curse of the Nile

Jul 7, 2020 | Marina Ottaway

A slow-motion crisis has been developing in the Nile Valley since the Ethiopian government announced the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on…

Countdown to a Bitter Battle Over the Water of the Nile?

Jul 6, 2020 | Ricard González

In the 1990s, after the collapse of the USSR, the idea that water would drive the wars of the future took hold among analysts and…

Depopulating Military Installations Because of Sea Level Rise

Jul 6, 2020 | Marc Kodack

In case you missed it, an audit of the U.S. Department of Defense’s installation climate resilience from last year, conducted by the Government Accountability Office, found that…

Exploitation Of The Environment In War Or Armed Conflict Is Inevitable; Three Case Studies Including Gaza Strip, Yemen, And Iraq

Jul 2, 2020 | George Stacey

Any kind of war or armed conflict is a miserable thing as it kills numbers of innocent civilians. Conflict destroys communities, cultures, infrastructure, and most…

Unlocking the Biggest Resource We Have to Fight COVID-19 and Climate Change: Women in STEMM

Jul 2, 2020 | Anna Madlener and Natalie Unterstell

In times of the Covid-19 outbreak, social isolation is illuminating the gender gap perhaps like never before. Just count how many online “manels’’ (a panel…

Climate Change, Disease and the Legitimacy of Armed Non-State Actors

Jul 1, 2020 | Farah Hegazi

To many, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic came as a surprise. It has placed enormous strain on governments to contain the spread of the…

Disasters Meet Political Unrest, Displacing Millions in East Africa

Jul 1, 2020 | Clémentine André, Ivana Hajzmanova, and Maria Teresa Miranda Espinosa

In recent weeks, our news channels have been flooded with stories about the Covid-19 pandemic, political and social unrest around the world, natural hazards upending…

The Coffee Crisis in Colombia

Jun 30, 2020 | Yanis Iqbal

With the unabated march of the Covid-19 pandemic, the economic situation of Colombian coffee farmers is rapidly deteriorating. The price of Arabica coffee has reduced to an…

Three Cheers for the Power, Promise of Gender Equity in Agriculture

Jun 29, 2020 | Denise E. Antonio

We need the talents and energy of both men and women to power this sector and contribute to Jamaica's economy — an economy which must…

Gender and Climate – Scaling Impact with a Cross-Cutting Agenda

Jun 29, 2020 | Ting Nan Wang

Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the destructive nature of global crises without immediate resolutions. Likewise, the effects of climate change are slated to be…

In Guatemala, Investing in Indigenous Women's Economic Empowerment is Key to Building Back Better After COVID-19

Jun 29, 2020

Since March 2020, Guatemala has recorded more than 600 COVID-19 deaths and over 11,000 infections. Amidst this crisis, indigenous women have continued to use their…

Prioritizing Gender Equality in Post COVID-19 Tourism

Jun 27, 2020 | Jennifer Musson

Covid-19 has had an unprecedented impact on tourism with the UNWTO anticipating a 60-80% decline in international tourism. The crisis has laid bare structural inequalities…

COVID-19 Impact on Agriculture and Food Security: Regional Perspective

Jun 27, 2020 | Centre of Excellence on Emerging Development Perspectives

Even before COVID-19 hit the world, more than 820 million people were already struggling with hunger and 2 billion people were malnourished. At the end of 2019,…

Op-ed: Build Back Better: Women at the Centre of Decision-Making

Jun 26, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our world and our world view, deepening pre-existing inequalities, and exposing vulnerabilities in social, political, and economic systems. Across every…

Water Sharing Tensions Between Iran and Afghanistan Still High as Droughts Ease

Jun 24, 2020 | Phoebe Sleet

Both Iran and Afghanistan have suffered from prolonged droughts over the last several years. In Afghanistan, the worst drought in decades directly affected two-thirds of the country in 2018-19. Around ten…

The Gender Dimension of Sustainable Development

Jun 24, 2020 | Michael Fitzpatrick

Despite the recent ravages of plague, war, and pestilence, we humans still excel in one unceasing task — breeding. So much so, humanity is on…

Water Sharing Tensions Between Iran and Afghanistan Still High as Droughts Ease

Jun 24, 2020 | Phoebe Sleet

Both Iran and Afghanistan have suffered from prolonged droughts over the last several years. In Afghanistan, the worst drought in decades directly affected two-thirds of the country in 2018-19. Around ten…

Water Wars: The Pandemic’s Great Power Competition at Sea

Jun 24, 2020 | Sean Quirk

As the world continues its fight against the coronavirus, the U.S. and Chinese militaries are testing each other’s limits in the Indo-Pacific region. Beijing is…

How Can Extractive Sector Laws and Policies Contribute to Gender Equality?

Jun 23, 2020

What do governments and international organizations mean when they say that they aim to advance gender equity in the context of natural resource governance? Many governments…

Conflict, Conservation, and Cooperation Across the India-Bhutan Border

Jun 22, 2020 | Umika Chanana

In the article, Dr. Anwesha Dutta construes the evolution of separatist movements that stimulates the unbridled extraction of forest resources, impacting the lives and livelihood of…

Reports Highlight the Need for Further Consideration of Gender, Climate, and Security Linkages

Jun 22, 2020 | Magdalena Baranowska

In a recent Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) paper, Elizabeth Seymour Smith, a Research Assistant with SIPRI’s Climate Change and Risk Programme, explores the intersection of…

Environmental Peacebuilding in the Middle East: The Bridge between Climate and Conflict

Jun 19, 2020 | Madelyn Evans

In recent years, environmental challenges such as climate change, water scarcity, food security, and land degradation have increased competition over resources in the Levant. Environmentalist peacebuilders in…

Climate Change as a Security Risk: How Germany Should Address Climate Change at the UNSC

Jun 19, 2020 | Ariana Barrenechea, Sophia Christina Tomany, and Teslin Maria Augustine, with contributions from Abhishek Raj, John Chrysostom Kamoga, Nadja Macherey, Sonia Ran, and Varad Vatsal

How can Germany address climate change as a global security risk and make it a top priority of the UNSC? This is the question that…

Scope for Improvement: Linking the Women, Peace and Security Agenda to Climate Change

Jun 18, 2020 | Elizabeth S. Smith

Climate change can increase the risks of violent conflict, create risks to human security, and challenge conflict recovery and peacebuilding in different contexts. In many…

Will India Shift Its Stance on Climate Security in the UNSC?

Jun 18, 2020 | Dhanasree Jayaram

India will join the UNSC as a non-permanent member for a two-year term, starting in January 2021. The elections for five non-permanent members were held…

Sustainability for All: Gender Diversity in the Renewable Energy Industry

Jun 17, 2020 | Joanne Fixter

The global renewable energy industry is growing at a faster rate than ever, creating more and more jobs throughout its supply chain requiring a diverse…

Local People Hold the Key to Solving Burkina Faso’s Water Challenges

Jun 17, 2020 | Liza Debevec

Thanks to its usually abundant rice production, the Kou River Valley has for decades been known as Burkina Faso’s granary. But then the water stopped flowing.The…

Why Gender Responsiveness is Crucial for Equitable, Effective and Efficient Climate Finance

Jun 16, 2020 | Christine Lottje

Women all over the world suffer from the impacts of climate change. They are often more severely affected by climate change impacts as they aggravate…

Why Gender Responsiveness is Crucial for Equitable, Effective and Efficient Climate Finance

Jun 16, 2020 | Christine Lottje

Women all over the world suffer from the impacts of climate change. They are often more severely affected by climate change impacts as they aggravate…

Gender Awareness: Towards a Sustainable and Just Energy Transition. Part I

Jun 16, 2020 | Kathrin Meyer

According to the United Nations, the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 5 – Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls is the is the “foundation…