Blogs & Opinions

India's Water Wars

Mar 1, 2016 | Aman Sethi

NEW DELHI — Army trucks rumbled along dusty village roads, soldiers opened fire, crowds panicked and eventually the Indian Army took control of Munak canal,…

Kono Bleeds in Silence (Part I)

Feb 29, 2016 | Felix D. Fofoh

Part I of this article in the previous edition looked at the discovery of diamonds in Kono District, the colonial control of the minerals and…

Trading Away Ancient Amber's Secrets

Feb 26, 2016 | Shuo Wang, Chao Shi, Yun-jiao Zhang, Guo-xiong Hu and Li-zhi Gao

In the swamps of North Myanmar lies some of the oldest stone in the world. Burmese amber (burmite) is more than 100 million years old…

Papua New Guinea: Uncovering Impacts of Gold Mining

Feb 26, 2016 | Joshua Fisher

The pacific island of Papua New Guinea is one of the world’s most resource rich countries, hosting nearly 7 percent of global biodiversity and important…

How Bad Will El Niño Be? Worse Than You May Think

Feb 26, 2016 | Prof. Marc Levy

Much of the discussion about the fear that the current El Niño will turn out to be even worse than the devastating 1997-1998 El Niño…

Conflicting Views Surface on UNEP’s Work on Armed Conflicts Ahead of UNEA-2

Feb 22, 2016 | Doug Weir

Some States would rather UNEP’s only role in relation to armed conflicts is that of a voluntary post-conflict environmental helpline, but this view fails to…

How a Pink Flower Defeated the World’s Sole Superpower

Feb 21, 2016 | Alfred W. McCoy

After fighting the longest war in its history, the United States stands at the brink of defeat in Afghanistan. How can this be possible? How…

The Role of Women in Creating Climate Resilient Communities: Focus on the Philippines

Feb 19, 2016 | Laura Fairman

The Philippines is one of the world’s most vulnerable populations to the effects of climate change. When the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction…

Afghanistan’s Opium Solution

Feb 19, 2016 | Ryan Mernin

For fourteen years, beginning in 2001, the U.S. fought a war on two fronts in Afghanistan: one to destroy the Taliban, the other to destroy…

Fair Share: Toward an Equitable Resource Revenue System

Feb 17, 2016 | Andrew Bauer

Myanmar’s government currently collects much of the trillions of kyat generated by oil, gas, gemstones and other minerals each year, primarily through its state-owned economic…

Water and Security Hotspots to Watch in 2016 [Infographic]

Feb 15, 2016 | Gracie Cook

The ongoing violence in Syria exhibits the potential for water problems – a historic drought, in this case – to exacerbate existing social and political…

We Need to Define “the Environment” to Protect it from Armed Conflict

Feb 11, 2016 | Laurence Menhinick

If we want to strengthen the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts, we need to define what we mean by “the environment”…

What Happened When Wall Street Reform Came to Congo’s Frontier Mining Towns

Feb 11, 2016 | Holly Dranginis

She never wanted to be a miner. Daphrose grew up in the rainforest, where Congo’s mountain gorillas are protected from hunters by an elite group…

On the Road to Peace in Colombia, It’s Important to Remember the Underlying Causes of Conflict

Feb 9, 2016 | Stephanie Burgos

The longest lasting and only remaining internal armed conflict in this hemisphere may be coming to a close soon. After more than 50 years, Colombians…

Myitsone Dam is as Much Aung San Suu Kyi's Problem as Beijing's

Feb 8, 2016 | David I. Steinberg

In September 2011, Myanmar President Thein Sein dropped a bombshell on his country's previously close relations with China. Citing the public interest, he announced that…

Climate Change, Disasters, and Security: Unconventional Approaches to Building Stability

Feb 8, 2016 | Gracie Cook

It is “not sufficient to look at history for lessons on how we should prepare for and prevent future security risks in a climate change…

Armed Conflict, Environmental Protection and the Sustainable Development Goals

Feb 3, 2016 | Doug Weir

Unless the international community does more to protect and restore the environment from the impact of armed conflict, many countries will fail to meet the…

Corruption in Iraq’s Oil Industry

Jan 31, 2016 | Barham Othman

Iraq is one of the countries in the Middle East that is known to be oil rich. Iraq has also been suffering from a lack…

“The Most Toxic War in History” – 25 Years Later

Jan 29, 2016 | Doug Weir

This month marks the 25th anniversary of the start of Operation Desert Storm, the combat phase of the Gulf War. Precipitated by Iraq’s invasion and…

Can Myanmar Avoid Conflict Pitfalls in its Hydro Blitz?

Jan 27, 2016 | Alec Forss

Myanmar is undergoing multiple transitions, from military rule to democracy, decades of civil war to peace, and from a command economy to a market-based one.…

Striking a Peace Deal with Colombia’s Forests and Fields

Jan 26, 2016 | Maria Alejandra Jaramillo

Last year, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced that, before or on March 23, the government would sign a peace deal with the rebel group…

Climate change, Instability and Migration: Forging a Positive, Sustainable Response

Jan 25, 2016 | Benjamin Pohl

The climate conference that took place in Paris last month has repeatedly been billed as a crucial global summit, and even as a decisive moment…

Effects of Low Oil Prices on South Sudan’s Economy

Jan 25, 2016 | Mabor Maker Dhelbeny

The month of January, 2016 emerges with new crisis of low oil prices, not only in the Republic of South Sudan but worldwide. I called…

How to Jumpstart the Afghan Economy

Jan 22, 2016 | M. Ashraf Haidari

To shore up its economy, Afghanistan and other South Asia countries need to stop playing power politics.

Afghanistan’s experience during and after the Cold War helps…

Using Citizen Science to Assess Environmental Damage in the Syrian Conflict

Jan 22, 2016 | Wim Zwijnenburg and Andy Garrity

For new and ongoing conflicts across the world, the need to document their impact on civilians and the environment upon which they depend is encouraging…

Forget Star Wars; Get Ready for Water Wars

Jan 20, 2016 | Marc Ross and Stephen J. McConnell

A great war looms, one that will rise from the most desperate circumstance: our battle over water. Today, we war because of a chasm of…

Ivorian Formula a Must - Agriculture: Key to Liberia's Economic Resurgence

Jan 19, 2016 | FPA Reporter

Liberia Must Begin to look next door to the Ivory Coast to see how they have been able to utilize their agriculture strengths to their…

Musings on Conflict Minerals Compliance – The Year That Was, the Year That May Be and What You Should be Doing Now

Jan 19, 2016 | Michael Littenberg

With New Year’s behind us and roughly four and a half months to go until the calendar 2015 conflict minerals filings are due, many companies…

Lessons From Uganda on Strengthening Women’s Voices in Environmental Governance

Jan 19, 2016 | Blake Ratner, Clementine Burnley and Paola Adriázola

It’s become popular to say that the health of the environment and the health of human communities are interlinked. Yet much of the investment aimed…

An Empty Table? Food-Climate-Conflict Connections in Paris

Jan 15, 2016 | Roger-Mark De Souza and Meaghan Parker

Security, terrorism, conflict, and peace: you won’t find any of these words in the landmark agreement released on December 12 at the 2015 Paris Climate…