Blogs & Opinions
Beyond a “Threat Multiplier”: Exploring Links between Climate Change and Security
Jul 26, 2022
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Farah Hegazi, Elise Remling, Kyungmee Kim, and Simone Bunse
The idea implicit in the term “threat multiplier” is straightforward: climate change can exacerbate security threats. Yet this formulation puts the emphasis squarely on climate…
Why Climate Change Disproportionally Impacts Women
Jul 25, 2022
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Demetria Dickinson
A number of recent studies show that the negative effects of climate change fall disproportionately on women, caused by and compounding long-standing effects of sexism…
Ukraine’s Critical Minerals and Europe’s Energy Transition: A motivation for Russian Aggression?
Jul 21, 2022
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Andrei Covatariu
Europe’s long-term strategy to phase out fossil fuel use has endangered Russia’s main source of state revenue, forcing the Kremlin to focus on acquiring, one way or…
Water Diplomacy Can Learn from Realist Ideas
Jul 19, 2022
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Sumit Vij, Jeroen Warner, Mark Zeitoun, Christian Bréthaut
As Russia’s war in Ukraine continues and nations are returning to behaviors best explained by realism, we are wrestling with these trends’ longer-term implications on water…
Food May Be the Ultimate Weapon in the 21st Century
Jul 18, 2022
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Hal Brands
President Joe Biden’s administration is reportedly rewriting its National Security Strategy, which the White House is required to send to Congress annually, to account for the lessons…
New Legal Protections for the Environment in relation to Armed Conflict
Jul 16, 2022
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Karen Hulme and Elizabeth B. Hessami
Nature and conservation are inevitably harmed during armed conflict. The recent adoption by the International Law Commission (a legal body within the United Nations) of…
What’s in a Name? Making the Case for the Sahel Conflict as “Eco-Violence”
Jul 15, 2022
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Olumba Ezenwa
The Sahel region of Africa is a semi-arid, arc-shaped landmass that stretches 3,860 kilometres from Senegal across portions of Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, and even…
How Climate Change Could Drive an Increase in Gender-Based Violence
Jul 14, 2022
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Meghie Rodrigues
As extreme weather events occur more frequently — something that climate scientists say is inevitable — so, too, will violence towards women and people from…
As Climate Change Strains Somalia's Path to Peace, Communities Hold the Key
Jul 14, 2022
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International Organization for Migration
Massive livestock deaths due to drought have been reported across Somalia this year. Herds of cattle – often the only source of income and food…
In World Convulsed by Climate-Driven Conflict, Are Peace Parks an Answer?
Jul 14, 2022
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Saul Elbein
The Himalayan high peaks serve as a jagged wall dividing nuclear-armed neighbors — a physical barrier rising in places to more than 8,800 meters (29,000…
Tackling Scarcity and Building Security: A Response to IUU Fishing
Jul 14, 2022
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Johan Bergenas
Healthy coastal ecosystems support peaceful and well-functioning societies. They feed billions of people, support hundreds of millions of jobs, and provide security to communities at…
Women Should Be Leading Conservation Efforts in Africa
Jul 13, 2022
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Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Women make up the backbone of society. Nowhere is this truer than in rural Africa, where the so-called “lesser sex” takes on the bulk of…
Heeding Calls from Environmentalists, South Sudan President Suspends Dredging of Sudd Wetland
Jul 13, 2022
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Yale Environment 360
In May, Egypt delivered equipment to dredge 20 miles of waterways in the north of the Sudd, sparking backlash from environmentalists, who said the project…
Climate Change Exacerbates Violence Against Women and Girls
Jul 12, 2022
It is estimated that 80 per cent of people displaced by climate change are women, according to UN Environment.
When women are displaced, they are at…
Kerala’s Escalating Human-Wildlife Conflicts
Jul 11, 2022
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Aswin V.N.
Incidents of human-wildlife conflict are on the rise in Kerala and it is back in focus with the killing of man by a wild elephant…
Convergence of Conflicts, COVID and Climate Crises, Jeopardize Global Goals
Jul 7, 2022
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United Nations
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 reveals that the convergence of increased fighting, the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, and the long-term climate crisis, could push an additional 75 to…
How Green Can Ukraine’s Recovery Really Be?
Jul 7, 2022
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Michelle Langrand
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, there have been over 580 disruptions in industrial and infrastructure facilities, according to figures by the Geneva-based Zoi…
We Built an Algorithm to Predict How Climate Change Will Affect Future Conflict in the Horn of Africa: Here’s What We Found
Jul 6, 2022
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Jannis Hoch, Niko Wanders, and Sophie de Bruin
The Horn of Africa, on the eastern coast of the continent, is currently being battered by an intense and sustained drought thanks to which around 20 million people…
For Somalia, Nature Is Key to Lasting Peace: UN Expert
Jul 6, 2022
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UN Environment Programme
Just over two years ago, Christophe Hodder was selected as the first UN Climate Security and Environmental Advisor to Somalia. Since then, he had spearheaded…
Exploring Climate Security: Why Bad Outcomes Occur in Some Places and Not Others
Jul 5, 2022
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Josh Busby
Global disaster risk reduction world provides a hopeful sign. Optimists tout that despite large and increasing numbers of people living in harm’s way to climate-related…
Empowering Women Aids Climate Resilience
Jun 30, 2022
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Nina Jeffs, Zainab Yunusa
The overturning of constitutional rights to abortion by the United States Supreme Court is the latest blow in a worldwide rollback of protections for gender…
Her Land, Her Power: How Geospatial Tech Secures Women’s Land Rights
Jun 29, 2022
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Amy Coughenour Betancourt
It is estimated that 70 percent of land in the developing world is undocumented. This makes one billion people vulnerable to eviction and, more specifically,…
Within the Health, Climate, and Security Nexus, Prevention is Better than a Cure
Jun 29, 2022
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Kelly Bridges
Droughts are not the only climate-related disaster that affect WASH and health service delivery. In addition to being one of the hottest years on record, 2022 is…
PERAC: A Voice for Environment and Indigenous Peoples in Conflict’s Grip
Jun 28, 2022
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The New Security Beat
The harm that comes to the environment during armed conflict is often permanent, yet the lack of advocates to fight for its protection as they…
Exploring the Environment-Conflict-Migration Nexus in Asia
Jun 28, 2022
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SEI
This study examines the nexus between climate change, migration and conflict within Asia, with particular attention to Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, the three Asian countries…
PERAC: A Voice for Environment and Indigenous Peoples in Conflict’s Grip
Jun 28, 2022
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Elizabeth B. Hessami
The harm that comes to the environment during armed conflict is often permanent, yet the lack of advocates to fight for its protection as they…
Will a Nile Canal Project Dry up Africa’s Largest Wetland?
Jun 28, 2022
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Fred Pearce
South Sudan is moving ahead with plans for a 240-mile canal to divert water from the White Nile and send it to Egypt. But critics…
Climate Change, Migration and the Risk of Conflict in Growing Urban Centers
Jun 27, 2022
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Tegan Blaine, Ph.D.; Julia Canney; Chris Collins; Jessica Kline; Rachel Locke
From 2015 to 2050, the world’s urban population is expected to nearly double, in part because migrants from rural areas devastated by climate change are…
Preventing a “Green Resource Curse”: Opportunities and Risks of Mining in the Global Energy Transition
Jun 27, 2022
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Yiran Ning
Is a “green resource curse” on its way? Kimberly Thompson, a Senior Advisor for Natural Resources and Conflict and the Industry Lead for Mining at…
Tracking Military Greenhouse Gas Emissions in War and Peace
Jun 22, 2022
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Conflict and Environment Observatory
At COP26, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, “there is no way to reach net zero without also including emissions from the military”. Yet, there…