Blogs & Opinions

The Role of Climate Change in the Continuous Cycle of Resource-Based Conflict in Africa

Mar 12, 2019 | Jake Shaw

Degraded by both climate stress and conflict, the condition of the environment can be the initial and consistent trigger for conflict in an indefinite cycle…

Targeting Infrastructure Undermines Livelihoods in the West Bank

Mar 12, 2019 | Jeannie Sowers and Erika Weinthal

In many Middle Eastern wars, targeting civilian infrastructure has become all too common. As we documented in a previous article,  both state and non-state actors in…

Will UNEA-4 Miss the Opportunity to Link Conflict with Deforestation?

Mar 11, 2019 | Wim Zwijnenburg and Foeke Postma

In spite of recent resolutions on conflict and the environment, the UN Environment Assembly is failing to make obvious connections between environmental issues and their…

Protecting Women's Rights in Iraq Affects the Whole Population

Mar 10, 2019 | Nazli Tarzi

What Iraq needs is a state-driven campaign that raise awareness and legislation that protects and encourages greater participation of women in the workforce.

'Balance For Better' Does Little to Address Issues Facing Women

Mar 8, 2019 | Rosie Urbanovich

International Women’s Day had radical roots: at the turn of the 20th century, thousands of women came together to protest dismal working conditions, long hours, and…

Women Are 'on the Front Lines' of Defending Land

Mar 8, 2019 | Barbara Fraser

When gold miners operating illegally near her farm in southern Colombia fouled the stream where she watered her cows, Mary Alis Ramírez tried to have…

Why Research on Gender and Conflict Matters

Mar 8, 2019 | Robert Malley

Last October, Ethiopia appointed its first woman president, the only female leader of an African state today. In many national parliaments, from Mexico to Rwanda,…

From Resolution to Solution: UNEA's Unique Opportunity to Tackle Environmental Dimensions of Armed Conflicts

Mar 8, 2019 | Wim Zwijnenburg

When the Fourth Session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-4) takes place in Nairobi starting March 11, governments, international organizations, and civil society organizations will…

Defense Establishment Blasts Proposal for Trump Climate Review

Mar 8, 2019 | Marlo Lewis Jr

In a letter released earlier this week, 58 “former national security leaders” urge President Trump not to approve the formation of a panel to review…

Land Is Power: How Land Rights Can Enfranchise Liberia's Women

Mar 8, 2019 | Loretta Alethea Pope Kai

Liberia is in the throes of finalising one of Africa’s most progressive land rights laws but its potential will be thwarted if women are excluded.

Ghana's Queen Fishmongers: Balancing Gender for Sustainable Fisheries

Mar 7, 2019 | Environmental Justice Foundation Staff

When we think about fishing, we typically conjure a very distinct image: boats at sea, manned. But that is only half the story, as the…

The Transformative Potential of Women in Water Resource Management

Mar 7, 2019 | Callum Clench

Water sits at the heart of our world and is a central tenet across the breadth of all the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Access…

Governing the Ayeyarwady

Mar 6, 2019 | Joern Kristensen

The continuing conundrum over Myitsone, concern among farmers over river bank erosion in the dry zone and the delta and reports of declining riverine resources…

A History of U.S. Defense, Intelligence and Security Assessments of Climate Change

Mar 5, 2019 | Peter H. Gleick

In March 2019, the Trump Administration announced they were considering creating an ad hoc White House panel to dispute a long-series of national assessments of…

Why Do People in Resource-Rich Iraq Protest?

Mar 3, 2019 | Nazli Tarzi

There appears to be little agreement among spectators over the motives and demands driving Iraq’s protest movement, which has grown in since late 2011. What…

In Search of Environmental Security at UNEA-4

Mar 1, 2019 | Doug Weir

The UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), which aims to be the leading body for the environment in the UN system, was established in 2012 by converting…

New Study on Infrastructure Damage in Gaza and the West Bank

Mar 1, 2019 | Leonie Nimmo

The targeting of water, energy, and agricultural infrastructure has created vulnerability and undermined livelihoods in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to a study…

Disputes over Water Will Be an Increasing Source of International Tension

Feb 28, 2019 | Economist

It has become a cliché of doom-mongering: future wars will be over water. The forecast is old enough to face a sceptical backlash. Whatever happened,…

National Security and the Nexus of Climate, Conflict and Migration

Feb 25, 2019 | Amanda Rodewald

Does climate change pose a national security threat? That is the question to be addressed by a proposed Presidential Committee on Climate Security, according to…

Missing Peace: Why Transboundary Conservation Areas Are Not Resolving Conflict

Feb 19, 2019 | Elaine (Lan Yin) Hsiao

Transboundary Conservation Areas, such as Parks for Peace, have been heralded for their potential to simultaneously contribute to biodiversity conservation and peace, but evidence to this effect has…

Missing Peace: Why Transboundary Conservation Areas Are Not Resolving Conflicts

Feb 19, 2019 | Elaine (Lan Yin) Hsiao

Transboundary Conservation Areas, such as Parks for Peace, have been heralded for their potential to simultaneously contribute to biodiversity conservation and peace, but evidence to…

Pulwama Attack: Sadly, India Can't Resort to 'Water War'

Feb 19, 2019 | Ashish Shukla

The dastardly Pulwama attack has again led to talks of India abrogating the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 and wage a ‘water war’ against Pakistan…

Climate Security in Times of Geopolitical Crises — What Ways Forward?

Feb 18, 2019 | Dan Smith, Malin Mobjörk, Florian Krampe, and Karolina Eklöw

Ahead of the fourth Planetary Security Conference on 19–20 February 2019 in The Hague, SIPRI authored the 2019 progress report ‘Climate Security – Making it…

Africa's Rich Oil: From Blessing To A Curse Of Rampant Corruption And Bad Governance On The Continent?

Feb 17, 2019 | Josephus Moses Gray

The African continent in recent years has come to be of major Geo-strategic importance to oil-dependent industrialized economies and the idea of an African rebirth…

Peace and Security Philanthropy Isn't Just about Conflict; It's Also Key to Curbing Climate Change

Feb 14, 2019 | Cath Thompson

Iconic images of World War II Europe and Japan, of Vietnam after Operation Ranch Hand, and of post-ISIS Mosul show total destruction of lives, communities,…

Warzone Conversation in Afghanistan: Build a National Park, Build Democracy

Feb 12, 2019 | Kyla Peterson

When picturing Afghanistan, many people envision desolate landscapes ravaged by war, but the country contains “this incredible diversity of habitats, of forest, of mountains, of…

Can Improving Women's Representation in Environmental Governance Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

Feb 11, 2019 | Charlotte Collins

The Paris Agreement’s clause to include more women in the environmental decision-making process set a historical precedent. The preamble urges parties to acknowledge that climate…

APWLD Member Zoom-in: Alma Sinumlag

Feb 8, 2019 | Adndita Listyarini

The cold bites in New York. That’s what Alma Sinumlag felt when she visited the Big Apple for the first time ever in 2018. Having…

New Developments in the Field of Environmental Peacebuilding

Feb 8, 2019 | Carl Bruch and Sierra Killian

For those working at the intersection of environment, conflict, and peace, 2018 was a notable year. A new conceptual and operational framework for environmental peacebuilding…

Insights by Adelphi Experts on Security Council's Debate on Climate Disasters and Security

Feb 7, 2019

On 25 January 2019, the UN Security Council held an open debate to discuss the security implications of climate-related disaster events. Adelphi’s experts Benjamin Pohl…