In a Time of Competing Crises, Environmental Action Matters More Than Ever

Jun 3, 2022 | Richard Black, Cedric de Coning, Geoffrey D. Dabelko, Hafsa Maalim, Melvis Ndiloseh, Dan Smith, and Caspar Trimmer
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Last week saw the launch of SIPRI’s major policy report Environment of Peace: Security in a New Era of Risk, looking at how to manage the growing risks emerging at the nexus of environmental degradation, peace and security.

The events of the last few weeks have reminded us in the most brutal manner of the consequences of armed conflict for the people caught up in it. The war in Ukraine is also threatening lives and livelihoods around the world far from the battlefield, not least with regard to food supplies. Many of these impacts are amplified by challenges related to climate change and other environmental ills.

Even though the Russian invasion has renewed focus on ‘hard’ security issues like armaments, nuclear weapons and military alliances, the wider situation illustrates the central thesis of Environment of Peace: that interactions between the twin crises in security and the environment are creating new, complex risks that can cascade around the world.