Blogs & Opinions

A 'Responsibility to Prepare': A Strategy for Presidential Leadership on the Security Risks of Climate Change

Jun 14, 2019 | Caitlin Werrell, Francesco Femia, and John Conger

Presidential candidates are offering their plans on climate change, and it’s a competition over who’s the most ambitious. That’s good news, given that it’s a major…

Webinar Series: Science Diplomacy and Environmental Peacebuilding

Jun 13, 2019 | Dhanasree Jayaram

Environmental peace building has emerged as a new frontier in interdisciplinary studies, which seeks to go beyond the traditional role of natural resources or environmental…

Inclusive Protection of Civilians During Conflicts: Making a Case for the Environment

Jun 12, 2019 | Wim Zwijnenburg

It is important to take an inclusive and tangible approach to protecting civilians by protecting the environment during armed conflicts. In recent decades, the link…

Colombia's Land Disputes: What the Life and Death of Hugo George Taught Me

Jun 12, 2019 | Mariana Calvo

Hugo George is one of the hundreds of social leaders who have been murdered in Colombia during its peace process. He was also my friend.

I…

Three Surprising Solutions to Climate Change

Jun 10, 2019 | Jeff McMahon

When the analysts at Project Drawdown quantified the impact of 100 solutions to climate change, they were surprised by some of their results, the organization's executive…

3 Pentagon Strategy Documents in 3 Months Highlight Climate Change Risks

Jun 10, 2019 | Caitlin Werrell and Francesco Femia

From April to June of this year, the U.S. military has issued not one, but three strategy documents that highlight climate change risks to the…

The River Is Life

Jun 10, 2019 | Chocó River Stories

For communities living along the Río Atrato, ‘the river is life’. Rivers play a central role in the cultural, economic and social life of the…

The Nature of Social Justice Advocacy and Local Resistance to Land Concession in Liberia: Impact on Land Governance System, Customary Land Rights and State Response

Jun 10, 2019 | Baba Sillah

One of the decisive moments in social justice advocacies for land rights in the recent history of Liberia came in 2011, when rural communities, wrote…

Women as Climate Action Ambassadors in Coastal Districts of India's Odisha State

Jun 7, 2019 | UN Environment

People in the coastal districts of the eastern Indian state of Odisha are increasingly suffering from the effects of climate change. Most households in the…

It's Time for the U.N. Security Council to Take on Climate Change

Jun 7, 2019 | Gregory Meeks and Michael Shank

This year, the United Nations Security Council debated, once again, climate change’s concrete impact on peace and security, noting that climate risks are a reality for…

Reducing Greenhouse Gases Is a Security Issue

Jun 7, 2019 | Joshua Busby

Fifteen years ago, luck would change the trajectory of my professional career. I was a predoctoral fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, so…

27 Women Leading the Charge to Protect Our Environment

Jun 6, 2019 | Veronique Hyland, Naomi Rougeau and Julie Vandal

Scientists have called our current, climate change–threatened era the Anthropocene, but as the eco-economist Kate Raworth once joked, women are left out of the narrative…

Why More Women Should Be Included in the Leadership of Virunga National Park

Jun 6, 2019 | Judith Verweijen, Janvier Murairi, and Esther Marijnen

Since 2014, the number of female park guards serving in Virunga National Park, located in war-ridden eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, has been gradually…

Champions for Change: The Power of Women Peacemakers and Peacebuilders in Ukraine

Jun 3, 2019

In 2009, Ambassador Ertuğrul Apakan sat in the United Nations Security Council when then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presided over a debate on…

South Asia Needs to Adopt a Gender Mainstreaming Approach in Climate Policy

May 31, 2019 | Dhanasree Jayaram

The disproportionate impacts of environmental and climate change on women are being studied and documented worldwide. However, when it comes to addressing the gender gap…

Non-State Actors and Post-Conflict Emissions Management

May 31, 2019 | Charlotte Collins

Armed conflict, in addition to its human toll, can devastate a nation’s environment and natural resources. Post-conflict instability can lead to increased carbon emissions and…

Without Curbing the Opium Trade, Afghanistan Is Unlikely to See Peace

May 31, 2019 | Saqib Fikree

While the talks between the United States and the Taliban continue, one key factor contributing to Afghanistan’s instability is not discussed — opium cultivation and drug…

Women's Land Rights: Shifting Power for Gender Equality

May 31, 2019 | Beth Roberts

Achieving gender equality requires a fundamental shift in the balance of power over resources. Globally, from urban financial centers to remote communities, from international bodies…

Is Oil Exploration More of a Curse Than Blessing?

May 26, 2019 | Abdifatah Hassan Ali

On 20th May 2019, Somalia's Lower House passed a petroleum bill ahead of government's plan to issue oil exploration license by the end of this…

Environmental Conservation in a Refugee Crisis: When Calling It a Cross-Cutting Issue Is Not Enough

May 22, 2019 | Haseeb Mb. Irfanullah

It’s hard for me to forget 21 January 2018 − the day I first entered the world’s largest refugee camp with my International Union for…

Lake Chad Crisis: Food Insecurity and Conflict are Creating a Feedback Loop of Destruction

May 22, 2019 | Phoebe Sleet

A report, recently released by Adelphi, has examined the linkages between climate change and conflict in the Lake Chad Basin. According to the report, conflict and…

Iraq: Beyond Oil and ISIS

May 22, 2019 | Austin Bodetti

As Iraq continues its lengthy recovery from a ruinous four-year showdown between the Islamic State (ISIS or IS) and an American-led coalition, Iraqi officials are…

Challenges for Female Peacekeepers Can Come from within UN Militaries

May 21, 2019 | Vanessa Newby

On 6 March 2019, Arizona Senator Martha McSally gave testimony at an armed services committee hearing that she had been raped by a senior officer while…

Of Milk and Minorities: Equity and Consumption in Vietnam

May 21, 2019 | Jody Harris

Recently, I found myself sitting on a low stool in a small, neat home in the central highlands of Vietnam, talking to three young mothers…

New UN Legal Report Addresses the Responsibility of States and Corporations for Environmental Damage in Conflict

May 21, 2019 | Stavros Pantazopoulos

Now in its sixth year, the International Law Commission’s project to enhance the legal framework protecting the environment in relation to armed conflicts is nearing…

Growing Authoritarianism, Social Inequalities Often a Prelude to Conflict

May 20, 2019 | Margot Wallström

I want to talk about peacebuilding and inclusive peace. My main point is that peace begins in the minds of people, and people, communities, societies…

Do Women Care More About Climate Change Than Men?

May 19, 2019 | Tabitha Whiting

Recently I heard environmentalist economist and author of Doughnut Economics, Kate Raworth, speak (she joined us for our Rebel Book Club April meet up). She mentioned…

Science Diplomacy and Environmental Peacebuilding: Oceans Governance and Dispute Management

May 19, 2019 | Sunitha Anup, Carla Elliff, and Dhanasree Jayaram

In the third and final webinar of the three-part webinar series concerning science diplomacy and environmental peacebuilding, the focus was on oceans governance.Our planet is…

This Year's Goldman Environmental Prize Winner Says the Battle for Land Rights in Liberia Is Just Getting Underway

May 17, 2019 | Alfred Brownell

In 2016, I fled my native Liberia to avoid being arrested. My organization Green Advocates had recently filed a complaint before the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm…

Evidence from Malawi: Why Agricultural and Nutrition Eduction Programs Should Engage Both Women and Men in Households

May 14, 2019 | Catherine Ragasa and Noora-Lista Aberman

Gender norms and inequalities are an important factor in Malawi’s ongoing food security problems. They shape agricultural practices and production, knowledge acquisition, innovation, food choices—and…