Blogs & Opinions

Conserving Biodiversity and Building Peace in Colombia: Solving Socio-Environmental Conflicts in Protected Areas through Peaceful Means Enhances Biodiversity Conservation and Peacebuilding

Dec 18, 2021 | Héctor Morales Muñoz and Julia Gorricho

Recent studies have found that protected areas can support peaceful and inclusive societies by helping to maintain environmental stability, thus providing a framework for good…

Food and Water Security Solutions: Reflections on Mitigating Climate-induced Population Displacement in Africa

Dec 16, 2021 | Christopher Graham

Worse, the Word Bank reports that climate change can potentially wipe out decades of social and economic progress in the developing world by displacing millions of people,…

Climate Change and Ecological Security Must Be at the Center of Our National Defense Strategy

Dec 15, 2021 | Holly Kaufman, Sherri Goodman, and John Conger

At a United Nations Security Council meeting in September 2021, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken asserted, “Look at almost every place where you see…

Environmental Governance in Frozen Conflicts

Dec 15, 2021 | Clayton Payne

When wars end without an internationally recognised agreement to resolve them, conflicts can become frozen. In this post, Clayton Payne examines how the frozen conflicts affecting…

Iraq’s Waning Water Resources in 2021

Dec 15, 2021 | Wim Zwijnenburg

The summer of 2021 witnessed how water security is at the core of the debate on the climate crisis in Iraq. Current estimates by the…

The Changing Face of the Global Humanitarian Crisis: Gender, Climate Change, and Humanitarian Interventions

Dec 13, 2021 | Shruti Samala

“In a changing world with galloping, growing needs, we can’t keep making the same efforts, issuing the same pleas, and just write bigger and bigger…

Russia’s ‘Nyet’ Does Not Mean Climate Security Is off the Security Council Agenda

Dec 13, 2021 | Florian Krampe and Cedric de Coning

On Monday, 13 December, Russia used its veto in the United Nations Security Council to block a thematic resolution on climate change and security put…

Climate Change and Gender Equality

Dec 10, 2021

Takalani Netshitenzhe, External Affairs Director for Vodacom South Africa says,“This year’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence was shortly after the United Nations Climate…

UNDP Empowers Women, Promotes Gender Equality Through Energy Management System Training

Dec 8, 2021

In an effort to boost gender equality and female participation in the energy management sector, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) held the Srikandi Energy…

Mining Sector Has an Obligation to Fight Gender-Based Violence

Dec 8, 2021 | Nolitha Fakude

The Minerals Council SA and our member companies are well aware that we operate in a context and climate where sexual harassment and gender-based violence…

Climate Threats Are Multiplying in the Horn of Africa

Dec 8, 2021 | Robert Muggah

The four countries on the peninsula—Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia—are warming more quickly than the global average, with dangerous implications for unrest and conflict within…

Colombian Farmers Take on David vs. Goliath Fight against 'Exploitative' Gold Mining

Dec 8, 2021 | Louise Eldridge

Almost five years ago, small-scale farmers in Colombia won a remarkable victory in the fight to protect their land and territories. They voted en masse…

How Does Fighting Climate Change Help Protect Sexual and Reproductive Health?

Dec 7, 2021 | Leah Rodriguez

Climate change doesn’t just damage the world’s natural resources and wildlife — it also has lasting impacts on the health of human beings, disproportionately affecting women and girls. 

Ahead…

Bringing Climate and Terrorism Together at the UN Security Council – Proceed with Caution

Dec 6, 2021 | Jordan Street

Misconceived climate-security policymaking could have significant adverse and counterproductive impacts.

The United Nations Security Council on Dec. 9 will hold its first open thematic debate to explore the links between…

A Darker Shade of “Code Red”: Arms and Climate Change

Dec 2, 2021 | Sarah Grand-Clément

Does the conventional arms community have the necessary tools to address climate change, including the risk of future climate shocks and environmental degradation, in its…

View: Uncertain Futures of women's rights in Afghanistan

Nov 29, 2021 | Avni Sablok

Possible Wars for Water Underscore Import of Nepal’s Peace Zone Proposal

Nov 26, 2021 | Anand Aditya

“Nothing is so powerful as an idea whose time has come,” said Victor Hugo. Wading through the strands of arguments that Isabelle Duquesne weaves into…

A Stand Against the Climate Crisis is a Stand Against Gender Violence

Nov 25, 2021 | Heleni Smuha

The climate crisis and environmental degradation are fuelling gender-based violence. Women and gender minorities at the forefront of environmental resistance movements are a prime target…

Walking the talk on SGBV: an implementation checklist to narrow the gaps between international law and domestic practice

Nov 25, 2021 | Rachael Kitching, Vanessa Murphy, Kelisiana Thynne

Thirty years ago today, 23 women launched the ‘16 Days of Action’ against gender-based violence.[1] Each year, this campaign begins on the 25th of November (International Day for…

GIZ Trains Stakeholders to Counter Illicit Movement of Minerals, Terrorist Financing, Others

Nov 25, 2021 | Ishmael F. Menkor

GIZ has trained several national stakeholders to counter the movement of illicit minerals, terrorist financing and money laundering, as well as illicit financial flows, within…

Timor-Leste Is Facing a Make-or-Break Moment

Nov 24, 2021 | Avelino Dos Santos Da Costa

Since the restoration of its independence in 2002, Timor-Leste has made tremendous progress in social capital (education and health), infrastructure (electricity and telecommunication), and in…

Climate Resilience and Conflict: Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships as a Way Forward?

Nov 23, 2021 | Christopher Graham

For groups that were already in disputes over land rights, territorial claims, and resource access or distribution, climate change increases the stakes – escalating or…

Climate Resilience and Conflict: Multi-stakeholder Partnerships As A Way Forward?

Nov 22, 2021 | Christopher Graham

In recent years, there has been an outpouring of evidence that climate change is intensifying and driving conflict situations around the world. The socio-ecological consequences of climate…

Gender Equity and Climate Change are Intertwined

Nov 22, 2021 | Angely Mercado

The climate change conference COP26 which ended last week tackled a number of issues that intersect with addressing the climate crisis—including a full day dedicated…

Understanding the Nexus Between Gender, Climate and Conflict Is Crucial for International Peace and Security

Nov 18, 2021 | Michelle Onello

Understanding the nexus between gender, climate and conflict is crucial for developing successful policies to combat climate change and resolve conflicts, and women must meaningfully…

Why Women’s Participation is Essential to Achieve Global Climate Targets

Nov 17, 2021 | Joanna Collingwood, Georgia Kremmyda, and Modupe Olufunmilayo Jimoh

We are engineers and scientists. We happen to be women, but first and foremost we are citizens of this planet who believe that immediate action…

Women’s Land Rights Are Necessary to Build Climate-Resilient Futures

Nov 17, 2021 | Juliet Schulman-Hall

COP 26, the UN Conference on Climate, ended last Friday, after world leaders made several collective pledges to the climate crisis on issues like deforestation,…

Promoting Gender and Climate Smart Investment

Nov 16, 2021 | Katja Silva-Leander and Kongkona Sarma

Climate change is set to cause unimaginable disruption unless immediate action is taken, and its impacts will disproportionately affect women — increasing inequality. In many…

The Challenge of Securing Access to Minerals for the Green Transition

Nov 16, 2021 | Jewellord Nem Singh

COP26 came to a close in Glasgow this weekend, with activists and developing country governments disappointed in the global ambition as laid out in the…

Climate Change and Farmers-Herders Conflict in Nigeria

Nov 15, 2021 | Ojemire B. Daniel

International attention often focuses on ethnic conflict in the Niger Delta and religious conflict in Northern Nigeria, leaving farmer-herdsmen overlooked. In Nigeria, the conflict between…