Blogs & Opinions

War Is an Ecological Catastrophe

Jan 7, 2020 | Molly Hanson

The '20s came roaring in with two explosive headlines: reports of Australia's inferno, and the speculation that the United States could be hurtling towards another war in the…

Realizing Dreams Through the Power of Land Rights

Jan 6, 2020 | My-Lan Dodd

In India, a widow named Sonamoti lacks the resources to feed her only son because she was deprived her share of family land. She wishes…

Water Wars: Stare Decisis in the South China Sea

Jan 6, 2020 | Sean Quirk

On Dec. 12, 2019, Malaysia further delineated the limits of its extended continental shelf, directly challenging Chinese claims in the South China Sea. Malaysia submitted information to the UN…

War, Mismanagement and Climate Change: Iraq's Environment Pushed to the Brink

Jan 2, 2020 | Fanack

Water has been Iraq’s lifeline since the birth of civilization in Mesopotamia and features prominently in millennia-old epics as well as contemporary poems. In recent decades,…

Unrest in Iraq Reminds Us of Geopolitical Risks to Oil

Jan 2, 2020 | Ellen R. Wald

Over the New Year holiday, pro-Iran militiamen surrounded the United States embassy in Baghdad. Ultimately, and thankfully, the American personnel remained unscathed, but it was a further…

How the Climate Crisis Could Reverse Progress on Gender Equality Around the World

Jan 1, 2020 | Mark Leon Goldberg

People who directly depend on the natural world for their livelihoods, like farmers and fishers, will be among the greatest victims of the climate crisis.…

China Quietly Pushing Myanmar to Back Its Development Plan for Irrawaddy River

Dec 30, 2019 | Nan Lwin

Chinese think tanks based in Yunnan have been traveling back and forth between Yangon and the Chinese province’s capital, Kunming, since early 2018. But at…

Geoengineering's Gender Problem Could Put the Planet at Risk

Dec 21, 2019 | Sarah Sax

A group of British scientists had a plan for a groundbreaking geoengineering test. Working from a disused military airstrip in Norfolk, U.K., they would attach a 3,000-foot…

What If Nazi Germany Won by Seizing the Middle East (And Its Oil)?

Dec 21, 2019 | Warfare History Network

Key point: Nazi Germany didn't have enough oil, but that may not have single-handedly cost them the war. With Rommel driving on Egypt and the British…

Editorial: Strengthen Water Diplomacy!

Dec 20, 2019 | Afghanistan Times

Afghanistan has many natural resources, especially in terms of water and mines, but they haven't been tapped effectively so far. Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran have…

CFFP Volunteer Lea Börgerding Speaks with Dorothy Nalubega, a Ugandan Minority Rights Activist, Feminist and Environmentalist

Dec 19, 2019 | Lea Börgerding and Leonie Schmid

Lea Börgerding (LB): Dorothy, you are a minority rights activist and environmentalist. Can you tell us a little bit more about yourself and your work? 

Dorothy…

Women From the Xingu Territory Unite Against Threats from Bolsonaro Administration

Dec 18, 2019 | Maria Fernanda Ribeiro

“We don’t think about selling wood or any part of the Earth to get money. We have so many ways to support ourselves that we…

How Women Can Lift Malawi Out of Poverty

Dec 18, 2019 | Sarah Chabane

More than half of the agricultural labour force in Malawi are women. However, they rarely get their fair share for the hard work they do…

Gender Matters in Coastal Livelihood Programs in Indonesia

Dec 18, 2019 | Emily Gibson and Natasha Stacey

Significant investments have been made in improving the well-being of Indonesian coastal communities in recent decades. However, most of these programs have not tackled gender…

The Role of Women and Gender in the Fight Against Climate Change

Dec 18, 2019 | Chiara Soletti

It’s now an established fact that climate change is a risk factor for the life and fundamental rights of millions of people in ways that reflect social and…

Benefits of Gender Equality in Sustainable Ecosystem Management

Dec 17, 2019

Over the last several decades, principles of gender equality and women’s empowerment have permeated into numerous internationally agreed-upon goals. Ranging from commitments on human rights, peace and security, climate…

Climate Conferences are Male, Pale and Stale- It's Time to Bring in Women

Dec 16, 2019 | Maria Tanyang and Jacqui True

The COP25 climate meeting in Madrid concluded over the weekend. As in past meetings, the talks failed to make much progress on international climate action.…

Environmental Peacebuilding: Recognizing Its Roots, Progress and Future Challenges

Dec 16, 2019 | Teresa Lappe-Osthege and Elaine Lan Yin Hsiao

Breaking from narratives that overemphasise the relationship between natural environments and violent conflict, environmental peacebuilding aims to explore and utilise cooperative mechanisms that can emerge…

Protecting the Protectors: Environmental Defenders and the Future of Environmental Peacebuilding

Dec 16, 2019 | Erika Weinthal

Early scholarship on environmental peacemaking recognized the important role that local civil-society can play in promoting regional cooperation while, at the same time, pressuring governments to protect…

Advances for Gender Equality at COP25

Dec 13, 2019 | Women’s Environment and Development Organization

After nearly two weeks of negotiations at COP 25 climate negotiations in Madrid, Spain, the governments have adopted a new 5-year Gender Action Plan (GAP)…

Climate Security Is National Security

Dec 12, 2019 | Joanna Rozpedowski

Between 2008-2012 over 144 million people were displaced by a sudden onset of disasters in more than 122 countries, a number far higher than the…

Sierra Leone Needs Stability, It's Blessed with Resources

Dec 12, 2019 | Neil De Beer

Sierra Leone, like many of its African compatriots, is richly blessed with many natural resources like diamonds, iron, and gold. On February 14, 1972, the…

What Is the Fate of Baghdad-Erbil's Oil-for-Budget Agreement amid Ongoing Protests?

Dec 12, 2019 | Dana Taib Menmy

The Kurdistan Region of Iraq has vast proven oil and gas resources; however, mismanagement, corruption and ruling parties’ monopoly on power have brought the region to the brink of financial…

Water May Help Exacerbate Violent Conflict, but This Does Not Tell the Whole Story

Dec 11, 2019 | Phoebe Sleet

A new tool, launched by the Water, Peace and Security (WPS) Partnership, has identified a number of locations where there is a high risk of water-related…

Taliban Negotiations Resume, Feeding Hope of a Peaceful, More Prosperous Afghanistan

Dec 10, 2019 | Elizabeth B. Hessami

Peace talks have resumed between the United States and the Taliban of Afghanistan, three months after negotiations ended abruptly following a deadly Taliban attack in Kabul. 

The Taliban – an armed insurgency promoting…

Three Trends to Track in Population-Environment-Security

Dec 9, 2019 | Jennifer Dabbs Sciubba

Exactly 25 years ago the international community met in Cairo for the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. In the aftermath of the Cold War,…

To Address Climate Risks, Advance Climate Security in the United Nations

Dec 4, 2019 | Malin Mobjork and Karolina Eklöw

Climate change is widely recognised as one of the major forces shaping the future. Climate impacts illustrate in stark clarity how human actions fundamentally affect…

Women in Local Governance Are Key to Building Resilience to Climate-Fragility Risks

Dec 3, 2019 | Molly Kellogg and Lauren Olosky

The United Nations has recognized climate change as having important implications for peace and security, acting as a “threat multiplier” to other drivers of insecurity.…

Climate Crisis Could Reverse Progress in Achieving Gender Equality

Dec 3, 2019 | Nitya Rao

People who directly depend on the natural world for their livelihoods, like farmers and fishers, will be among the greatest victims of the climate crisis.…

Without the Enforcement of Environmental Laws, Petroleum Infrastructure Projects in Timor-Leste Come at a Cost

Dec 3, 2019 | Adilsonio da Costa

Ignoring environmental laws in Timor-Leste to build a petroleum infrastructure project could mean serious problems for communities including environmental destruction, loss of land, and loss of…