Blogs & Opinions

Creating a Water Ready World

Mar 22, 2016 | Sherri Goodman

Sitting at my desk looking at bills to be paid, the first one on the stack is for the water company, emblazoned with the phrase,…

Will the World's Next Wars be Fought Over Water?

Mar 22, 2016 | Peter Engelke

California’s ongoing drought is one sign that we have entered some uncharted and uncomfortable territory. Of the fears that have risen alongside a warming planet,…

How Drip Irrigation Methods Could Help Myanmar

Mar 21, 2016 | Daniel Zohar Zonshine

We hear a lot recently about El Nino and its effect on water availability in Myanmar. Many people are worried, quite rightly, about the potential…

The Flash War of '74: China and Vietnam's South China Sea Showdown

Mar 19, 2016 | Harry J. Kazianis

While Asia watchers the world over debate China’s latest moves to transform the status-quo in the South China Sea one fake island at a time,…

What the Environmental Legacy of the Gulf War Should Teach Us

Mar 18, 2016 | Laurence Menhinick

February marked the 25th anniversary of the 1991 Gulf War’s end. The intensity and magnitude of the allied coalition’s offensive, followed by the systematic destruction…

Long-term Peace in Afghanistan will Remain Elusive Without Land Security

Mar 18, 2016 | Mehrab Masayeed Habib

Decades of war have ravaged Afghanistan’s natural environment. But even after the recent round of fighting comes to an end, the country will continue to…

Calculating the Environmental Benefits of Peace in Colombia

Mar 17, 2016 | Doug Weir

Colombia’s environment has suffered widespread and severe damage as a result of half a century of armed conflict. With a peace agreement with FARC on…

Five Years on: Lessons Learned from the Environmental Legacy of Syria’s War

Mar 16, 2016 | Wim Zwijnenburg

This week the Toxic Remnants of War Network commemorates the beginning of the conflict in Syria. The devastation wrought upon the country has cost the…

Kabul Greenbelt Project aims to Restore some Luster to War-ravaged Capital – and Resilience too

Mar 15, 2016 | Elizabeth B. Hessami

It’s hard to imagine today, but Kabul was once ringed with grassy areas and shrubs, a few trees in areas too. Some of my husband’s…

Water Wars: Flexing Muscles, U.S. Deploys Great Green Fleet to South China Sea

Mar 11, 2016 | Zack Bluestone

In a symbolic show of force, the United States dispatched “a small armada” to patrol the disputed waters of the South China Sea, according to…

Armed Conflict Harms Countries’ Environmental Performance

Mar 9, 2016 | Doug Weir

Improvements in global environmental monitoring are continuing to provide evidence showing that conflicts and insecurity have a persistent and negative impact on environmental governance. With…

Women Pay Heavier Price for Big Dams

Mar 8, 2016 | Jamie Skinner

Large dams are displacing thousands of people in West Africa in societies where women traditionally have few legal or customary rights to the natural resources…

Can Mining Dig Rural Women Out of Poverty in Ghana?

Mar 8, 2016 | Amani Mhinda

Walking within the artisanal and small-scale mining population in Tarkwa, one of Ghana's principal mining regions, it dawns on me that the local population has…

Who Owns the Land?

Mar 8, 2016 | Tom Hundley

In little more than half a century, the world’s population has increased from 2 billion to more than 7 billion. Unfortunately, the size of the…

Armed Groups and Mineral Extraction in the DRC

Mar 8, 2016 | Washikala Malango

As armed groups are the main perpetrators of the ongoing violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, many actors working in the country have…

Transforming Myitsone Into a Win-Win

Mar 4, 2016 | Joern Kristensen

The incoming National League for Democracy government will soon need to make important decisions about the controversial Myitsone Dam. But it will also have to…

The Drought that Preceded Syria's Civil War Was Likely the Worst in 900 Years

Mar 3, 2016 | Elaisha Stokes

Syria's civil war has left 250,000 people dead, according to the latest UN count, and millions more are either displaced within the country's borders or…

A Healthy Environment Must be a Human Right – Especially in Armed Conflict

Mar 3, 2016 | Doug Weir

The question of whether a healthy environment is a human right has been occupying the minds of legal experts and governments since the 1980s. In…

El Niño, Peace and the Green

Mar 2, 2016 | Santiago Villaveces Izquierdo

El abrasante niño en apogeo, los campos secos y los cerros bogotanos ya ardidos son muestras de la necesidad de una estrategia solida de crecimiento…

Is the Illegal Trade in Congolese Minerals Financing Terror?

Mar 2, 2016 | Sebastian Gatimu

Many resource-rich states across the globe have used revenues from mining to finance their development. In Africa, however, a lack of sufficiently robust or effectively…

A Mysterious Pipeline Closure Is Bankrupting Iraqi Kurds

Mar 2, 2016 | Keith Johnson

The export pipeline connecting Kurdish oil fields to Turkey has been offline for two weeks, costing Erbil at least $200 million.

Iraqi Kurds’ dreams of energy-financed…

South China Sea Dispute

Mar 2, 2016 | Florencio Fianza

One of the most important issues that President Aquino is leaving to the next President is the problem in the South China Sea. Contrary to…

Climate and Conflict: El Niño’s Ability to Magnify Tensions Between Companies and Communities

Mar 2, 2016 | Josh Fisher

The Pacific island of Papua New Guinea has a long history of conflict and grievances among local communities and extractive industries like mining and oil…

India's Water Wars

Mar 1, 2016 | Aman Sethi

NEW DELHI — Army trucks rumbled along dusty village roads, soldiers opened fire, crowds panicked and eventually the Indian Army took control of Munak canal,…

Kono Bleeds in Silence (Part I)

Feb 29, 2016 | Felix D. Fofoh

Part I of this article in the previous edition looked at the discovery of diamonds in Kono District, the colonial control of the minerals and…

Trading Away Ancient Amber's Secrets

Feb 26, 2016 | Shuo Wang, Chao Shi, Yun-jiao Zhang, Guo-xiong Hu and Li-zhi Gao

In the swamps of North Myanmar lies some of the oldest stone in the world. Burmese amber (burmite) is more than 100 million years old…

Papua New Guinea: Uncovering Impacts of Gold Mining

Feb 26, 2016 | Joshua Fisher

The pacific island of Papua New Guinea is one of the world’s most resource rich countries, hosting nearly 7 percent of global biodiversity and important…

How Bad Will El Niño Be? Worse Than You May Think

Feb 26, 2016 | Prof. Marc Levy

Much of the discussion about the fear that the current El Niño will turn out to be even worse than the devastating 1997-1998 El Niño…

Conflicting Views Surface on UNEP’s Work on Armed Conflicts Ahead of UNEA-2

Feb 22, 2016 | Doug Weir

Some States would rather UNEP’s only role in relation to armed conflicts is that of a voluntary post-conflict environmental helpline, but this view fails to…

How a Pink Flower Defeated the World’s Sole Superpower

Feb 21, 2016 | Alfred W. McCoy

After fighting the longest war in its history, the United States stands at the brink of defeat in Afghanistan. How can this be possible? How…