Blogs & Opinions

Should the Security Council Engage with Implications of Climate Change? Let’s Look at the Scientific Evidence

Jun 8, 2023 | Halvard Buhaug, Cedric de Coning, and Nina von Uexkull

Climate change is a controversial topic at the United Nations (UN) Security Council. The Council has adopted over 70 resolutions and presidential statements that address…

Expert’s Take: Six Ways Sri Lanka’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security Will Support Women During Crises

Jun 8, 2023 | Prashani Dias

Conflicts and crises affect everyone, but do they affect everyone the same? Sri Lanka’s past shows how the legacy of armed conflict imposes particular hardships…

Hunger’s Rising but so Is a Key Solution: Gender Equality

Jun 8, 2023 | The Christian Science Monitor

The United Nations reported last month that, among countries without violent conflict, Afghanistan has the highest number of people (2.8 million) facing a “catastrophic” level…

We Must Center Gender and Community Rights for Climate Action (Commentary)

Jun 8, 2023 | Coraina de la Plaza and Valentina F. Martínez

As we head into the mid-year climate talks in Bonn, Germany, the corporate co-opting of the climate agenda has never been starker. Public pressure must…

Are We Ready for the Terror Threat Posed by El Niño?

Jun 7, 2023 | Erin Sikorsky

Imagine the U.S. government had credible information that a terrorist group was planning attacks in multiple cities across the globe. Attacks that could result in…

Climate Change, Disasters and Armed Conflict

Jun 7, 2023 | Tobias Ide

Both experts and policy makers have long expressed concerns about climate change as a security risk, with disasters playing a key role in these debates.

My new…

The Destruction of the Nova Kakhovka Dam and International Humanitarian Law: Some Preliminary Thoughts

Jun 6, 2023 | Marko Milanovic

This morning the Nova Kakhovka dam in Ukraine was destroyed, in circumstances which remain unclear. Thousands of people are in peril, while the devastation of…

A Deadly Duo: Climate Change and Conflict Are Fuelling Nigeria’s Food Insecurity Crisis

Jun 6, 2023 | Michael Ekwe

The 2022 Global Food Security Index — which ranks countries based on food affordability, availability, quality and safety — ranked Nigeria 107 out of 113 countries. This…

Integrating Gender and Social Inclusion in Nature-Based Solutions: A Way Forward

Jun 5, 2023 | Brenden Jongman, Mirtha Escobar, Lara Jungman and Balikisu Osman

Vietnam, with its vast coastline extending over 3,000 kilometres, is not only home to prosperous fisheries and socio-economic activities but also bears the brunt of…

Water Diplomacy – A Tool for Peace and Well Being

Jun 4, 2023 | Kiran Bhatt

On March 22nd every year, World Water Day is celebrated. The theme for 2023 focused on accelerating changes to resolve the water and sanitation crisis as…

The Horn of Africa Crisis: “The Challenge of a Generation”

Jun 1, 2023 | CARE

Across Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia, the Horn of Africa is experiencing the extreme effects of climate change. Compounded by other factors, the impacts on communities…

Bridging the Gap between Peacebuilders and Environmentalists

May 29, 2023 | Tia Savarese

Conflict, environmental threats and disasters, climate change, and food insecurity are often considered separate issues with separate solutions. These issues are, in actuality, all directly…

Trafficking in the Sahel: Guns, Gas, and Gold

May 29, 2023 | United Nations News

Chili peppers, fake medicine, fuel, gold, guns, humans, and more are being trafficked via millennia-old trade routes crisscrossing the Sahel, and the UN and partners…

Tackling Challenges in the MENA Region: Climate, Food Security, and Migration

May 26, 2023 | Angus Soderberg

Climate change, food insecurity, and migration converge to create conditions that have made the MENA region even more susceptible to unrest and conflict. Yet changing…

When Protecting Nature Helps Build Peace

May 25, 2023 | Vanessa Bauza

Over the past 60 years, more than 40 percent of civil wars or armed conflicts have been linked to competition over resources. And that’s expected to grow…

EU’s Flawed Reliance on Audits, Certifications for Raw Materials Rules

May 24, 2023 | Human Rights Watch

The European Union’s effort to secure a sustainable and secure supply of minerals, including through the draft Critical Raw Materials Act, is increasingly relying on flawed…

Liberia’s Biological Diversity Is Its Economic Power Horse

May 23, 2023 | Stephen Rodriques

Liberia prides itself as a nation endowed with a substantial share of global biodiversity. The country is regarded as one of the biodiversity hotspots in…

Building Peace by Formalizing Gold Mining in the Central Sahel

May 23, 2023 | Jorden de Haan and Aly Diarra

The Central Sahel is increasingly deemed the new epicenter of terrorism, accounting for 35 percent of global terrorism deaths in 2021. Yet as the situation in…

Addressing the Converging Risks of Climate, Insecurity, and Migration in Central America

May 19, 2023 | Claire Doyle

The idea of climate change as a “threat multiplier” has been gaining steam since it was first proposed roughly 15 years ago. This framing acknowledges…

Water Scarcity and Environmental Peacebuilding: A Lens on Southern Iraq

May 18, 2023 | Ali Al-Bayaa and Mostafa Mashhad

The Tigris and Euphrates rivers are Iraq’s primary sources of water. However, both rivers originate in Turkey and flow through Syria before passing through Iraq.…

Intersectional Gender Equity Must Inform Efforts to Enhance Climate Security in Africa

May 16, 2023 | Marisa O. Ensor

The adverse consequences of climate change are being felt around the world, but nowhere more keenly than in Africa. While African nations are among the least responsible for…

Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan Worsens, With Disproportionate Impacts to Women and Girls

May 11, 2023

With over 600 people dead, 5,100 injured, approximately 730,000 displaced, and few health centers operational, the dire situation in Sudan is getting worse, with growing…

How Satellite Prevented a War for Water

May 11, 2023 | Robert Bell

Have you ever been really, really thirsty?  Not just dry-mouthed in the middle of the night or longing for a cold drink after an afternoon…

Somalia's Women and Girls are Victims of Climate Change

May 11, 2023 | Amal Hassan

Hospitals are filled to capacity with shrieking children and worried mothers. Doctors are rushing, trying to save the lives of many, already knowing that they won’t be…

Green Spending and Gender

May 10, 2023 | Nigel Barber

Consumer spending fuels the global economy and is the biggest single cause of climate change. Much of that spending is discretionary, so changing consumption habits…

Is the Water War Imminent?

May 9, 2023 | M. A. Hossain

With the world’s population increasing and climate change worsening water scarcity, the likelihood of a global water war grows. Due to water being a finite…

Towards an Acceptable Accounting of Ukraine’s Post-War Environmental Damages

May 9, 2023 | Andriy Demydenko and Eugene Stakhiv

The Russian war has caused enormous environmental damage to Ukraine. How to estimate this damage in order to calculate the cost of recovery and reparations…

Equitable Resource Governance Helps Build Peace

May 9, 2023 | Karol Boudreaux and Daniel Abrahams

Across the Sahel, growing tensions between farmers and herders are more frequently spilling over into deadly clashes. Rapid population growth, along with the impacts of…

The Problem That Has No Name: Gender, Climate Migration, and the Case of Israel

May 3, 2023 | Hadas Cohen

Female climate refugees are doubly vulnerable, both to climate catastrophes back home and once on the road as refugees. Israel, which is expected to be…

Shifting the Power: Making a Difference Through Gender and Climate Activism

Apr 27, 2023 | Meg Keen

In this episode of Pacific Change Makers, Dr Meg Keen speaks with Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls in Suva, Fiji about social activism in the Pacific. Sharon is the Regional…