Blogs & Opinions
‘Women Bear the Biggest Brunt of Climate Change,’ says Climate Scientist Susan Chomba
Jun 21, 2023
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Neha Wadekar
Roughly 12 percent of the world’s top climate scientists are women and fewer than one percent are from Africa – a continent hard hit by climate…
A Tale of Two Definitions: Fortifying Four Key Elements of the Proposed Crime of Ecocide (Part I)
Jun 20, 2023
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Matthew Gillett
This two-part post addresses four facets of the Independent Expert Panel‘s (“IEP”) 2021 proposed definition of Ecocide and contrasts them with the corresponding elements of…
Beyond the UN Security Council: Can the UN General Assembly Tackle the Climate–Security Challenge?
Jun 20, 2023
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Adam Day and Florian Krampe
Despite the evidence, and despite the Security Council having already passed more than 70 resolutions and statements on climate-related security risks, efforts to make climate…
Opinion: Make Climate Finance Inclusive for Just Transition to Net Zero
Jun 20, 2023
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Jyotsna Puri and Pablo Vieira
Beyond the UN Security Council: Can the UN General Assembly Tackle the Climate–Security Challenge?
Jun 20, 2023
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Adam Day and Florian Krampe
The wildfires raging in Canada are yet another reminder that climate change is already having an impact on all our lives. As the smoke clears…
Climate Response for Drylands Must Include Women
Jun 17, 2023
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Tiina Vähänen and Fidaa F. Haddad
In the world’s drylands, which are home to nearly 40% of the global population, women are feeling the effects of climate change. Droughts and land…
The Kakhovka Dam Disaster: Responsibility and Consequences
Jun 14, 2023
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Andrian Prokip
In the early morning hours of June 6, an explosion destroyed the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station on the Dnipro river. Seismic data…
President Biden’s Focus on Environmental Justice Has a Crucial Blind Spot
Jun 13, 2023
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Carly A. Krakow
On April 21, President Biden signed an executive order addressing domestic toxic pollution and climate vulnerabilities that disproportionately burden low-income communities and communities of color.…
Use of Water as a Weapon of War Likely to Increase
Jun 13, 2023
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Kerry Boyd Anderson
The collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam in Ukraine last week highlighted the role of water in warfare. The use of water as a weapon…
The Taliban’s Opium Ban: A Success or a Failure?
Jun 13, 2023
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Altaf Moti
Afghanistan is the world’s biggest opium producer and a major source for heroin in Europe and Asia. Production spiraled over the past 20 years despite…
ELN Ceasefire Could Ease Environmental Degradation in Colombia
Jun 12, 2023
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Conflict and Environment Observatory
The new Colombian government is in the midst of an attempt to conclude its decades-long internal conflict, and a deal with the ELN forms a…
Conflict, Crisis, and Peacebuilding: Afghanistan and Regional Water Security
Jun 12, 2023
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Elizabeth B. Hessami
Gunfire erupted at the border of the Afghan Nimroz Province and Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan Province on May 27, 2023, amid rising tensions over water rights, killing…
Water on Boil: Weaponization of Water in Contemporary Geopolitics
Jun 10, 2023
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Rahul M. Lad and Ravindra G. Jaybhaye
A huge Kakhovka dam in the Russian-controlled area of southern Ukraine has been devastated on June 6, unleashing a flood of water in Southern Ukraine.…
Could the Nova Kakhovka Dam Destruction Become the ICC’s First Environmental Crimes Case?
Jun 9, 2023
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Thomas Hansen
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is likely right when he labels the Nova Kakhovka Dam destruction the “largest man-made environmental disaster in Europe in decades.” Accountability…
When the Levee Breaks: Five Military Takeaways from the Kakhovka Dam’s Destruction
Jun 8, 2023
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Timothy Heck and Zachary Griffiths
The destruction of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River has launched a wave of recriminations as both the Ukrainian and Russian governments blamed each…
Should the Security Council Engage with Implications of Climate Change? Let’s Look at the Scientific Evidence
Jun 8, 2023
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Halvard Buhaug, Cedric de Coning, and Nina von Uexkull
Climate change is a controversial topic at the United Nations (UN) Security Council. The Council has adopted over 70 resolutions and presidential statements that address…
Expert’s Take: Six Ways Sri Lanka’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security Will Support Women During Crises
Jun 8, 2023
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Prashani Dias
Conflicts and crises affect everyone, but do they affect everyone the same? Sri Lanka’s past shows how the legacy of armed conflict imposes particular hardships…
Hunger’s Rising but so Is a Key Solution: Gender Equality
Jun 8, 2023
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The Christian Science Monitor
The United Nations reported last month that, among countries without violent conflict, Afghanistan has the highest number of people (2.8 million) facing a “catastrophic” level…
We Must Center Gender and Community Rights for Climate Action (Commentary)
Jun 8, 2023
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Coraina de la Plaza and Valentina F. Martínez
As we head into the mid-year climate talks in Bonn, Germany, the corporate co-opting of the climate agenda has never been starker. Public pressure must…
Are We Ready for the Terror Threat Posed by El Niño?
Jun 7, 2023
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Erin Sikorsky
Imagine the U.S. government had credible information that a terrorist group was planning attacks in multiple cities across the globe. Attacks that could result in…
Climate Change, Disasters and Armed Conflict
Jun 7, 2023
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Tobias Ide
Both experts and policy makers have long expressed concerns about climate change as a security risk, with disasters playing a key role in these debates.
My new…
The Destruction of the Nova Kakhovka Dam and International Humanitarian Law: Some Preliminary Thoughts
Jun 6, 2023
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Marko Milanovic
This morning the Nova Kakhovka dam in Ukraine was destroyed, in circumstances which remain unclear. Thousands of people are in peril, while the devastation of…
A Deadly Duo: Climate Change and Conflict Are Fuelling Nigeria’s Food Insecurity Crisis
Jun 6, 2023
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Michael Ekwe
The 2022 Global Food Security Index — which ranks countries based on food affordability, availability, quality and safety — ranked Nigeria 107 out of 113 countries. This…
Integrating Gender and Social Inclusion in Nature-Based Solutions: A Way Forward
Jun 5, 2023
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Brenden Jongman, Mirtha Escobar, Lara Jungman and Balikisu Osman
Vietnam, with its vast coastline extending over 3,000 kilometres, is not only home to prosperous fisheries and socio-economic activities but also bears the brunt of…
Water Diplomacy – A Tool for Peace and Well Being
Jun 4, 2023
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Kiran Bhatt
On March 22nd every year, World Water Day is celebrated. The theme for 2023 focused on accelerating changes to resolve the water and sanitation crisis as…
The Horn of Africa Crisis: “The Challenge of a Generation”
Jun 1, 2023
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CARE
Across Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia, the Horn of Africa is experiencing the extreme effects of climate change. Compounded by other factors, the impacts on communities…
Bridging the Gap between Peacebuilders and Environmentalists
May 29, 2023
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Tia Savarese
Conflict, environmental threats and disasters, climate change, and food insecurity are often considered separate issues with separate solutions. These issues are, in actuality, all directly…
Trafficking in the Sahel: Guns, Gas, and Gold
May 29, 2023
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United Nations News
Chili peppers, fake medicine, fuel, gold, guns, humans, and more are being trafficked via millennia-old trade routes crisscrossing the Sahel, and the UN and partners…
Tackling Challenges in the MENA Region: Climate, Food Security, and Migration
May 26, 2023
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Angus Soderberg
Climate change, food insecurity, and migration converge to create conditions that have made the MENA region even more susceptible to unrest and conflict. Yet changing…
When Protecting Nature Helps Build Peace
May 25, 2023
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Vanessa Bauza
Over the past 60 years, more than 40 percent of civil wars or armed conflicts have been linked to competition over resources. And that’s expected to grow…