Blogs & Opinions

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Is Also a Looming Climate Disaster

Jan 11, 2023 | Aryn Baker

Israel and the Palestinian territories are among the most climate vulnerable places on the planet. Yet the newly-formed government led by Benjamin Netanyahu has focused…

How Russia’s War Is Impacting the Global Environmental Agenda

Jan 11, 2023 | Angelina Davydova

The impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the climate and biodiversity was not part of the official agenda at two recent major UN conferences…

How the Climate Crisis Affects Gender Equity and Equality

Jan 11, 2023 | U.S. Embassy and Consulate

Rawalpindi, Pakistan: IUCN reiterates that addressing climate change, environmental protection, and disaster risk reduction for all depends on the leadership of women and girls.IUCN, a pioneer…

In Ukraine, an Attack on Water Is an Attack on What Makes Us Human

Jan 10, 2023 | Catarina de Albuquerque

In the eastern front-line towns of Ukraine, local residents are boarding evacuation buses to head further west. Everyone has their own reason to leave. But…

Celebrating Human Rights Day with Reflections on Conflict Sensitive Conservation

Jan 10, 2023 | Nora Moraga-Lewey and Janet Edmond

As we mark the 74th anniversary of the United Nations adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Conservation International affirms its commitment to partner with Indigenous peoples…

Gender Inequality and Climate Change are Not Separate Challenges

Jan 9, 2023 | Economist Impact

Climate impacts are reversing gains in gender equality. Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis, which amplifies existing inequalities and builds on societal expectations…

How the Regenerative Economy can Advance Social Equity and Gender Equality

Jan 5, 2023

COP27 highlighted that the people who will bear the brunt of the climate crisis are also the world’s most vulnerable and marginalized. This is particularly…

The State of Care: Women's Health

Jan 1, 2023 | Deborah L. Blumberg

Historically, physicians have treated endometriosis with hormonal medications to suppress estrogen levels, with surgery, or both. But for the one in 10 women with the…

Environmental Peacebuilding Must Pay More Attention to Armed Groups

Dec 30, 2022 | Judith Verweijen

Environmental peacebuilding is a rapidly grow field of research and practice. It examines how addressing conflicts over natural resources and improving resource governance can serve as…

Climate Change: Securitising Climate Policy Will Keep the Indo-Pacific Afloat

Dec 26, 2022 | Mely Caballero-Anthony

In 2021 the Sixth Assessment Report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said that climate change is rapid and intensifying in every…

DRC: Saving Congo’s Forests Means Changing ‘Law Enforcement’

Dec 22, 2022 | Judith Verweijen

The Congo Basin rainforests, the world’s second largest, form the planet’s single greatest “carbon sink,” absorbing the atmospheric carbon dioxide that is overheating our planet.…

Gender, Climate and Finance: How Financing Female-Led Businesses can Lead the Way to a Net-Zero Future for People and the Planet

Dec 21, 2022 | Joana Pedro, Cassandra Devine, and Marie Wallner

In the third and final blog post in our series on Gender, Climate and Finance, we shift our focus to financial institutions that are leading the way…

Women-Focused Investments are Crucial for Community Adaptation

Dec 20, 2022 | Asian Development Bank

At an event during Cop27, speakers highlighted the important role women and girls play as agents of change in community adaptation.

Specifically, emphasis was placed on recognising,…

Will Iraq Finally Start to Use Its Natural Gas Reserves?

Dec 20, 2022 | Simon Watkins

It has long been a point of extreme contention with the US that Iraq continues to rely on neighbouring – sanctioned – Iran for around…

UN Philippines Peace-Building Program Scores Gains in Bangsamoro Region

Dec 19, 2022 | Manila Bulletin

A United Nations (UN) Philippines peacebuilding joint program in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) marked its completion with results that have significantly…

African and Indigenous Women Voices Essential for Climate Action

Dec 16, 2022 | Radia Mbengue and Chantal Bilulu

The climate crisis is caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels. Yet some of the key culprits — oil and gas — were glaringly…

Water, Peace, & Security: New Tools for a New Climate

Dec 16, 2022 | Claire Doyle

Water sustains life on our planet. And access to clean and safe water is foundational to society. So why has it only been in recent…

COP15 Women Key Roles in Conservation Need to be Recognizes

Dec 14, 2022 | Pressenza

Tuesday, representatives from different organizations shared their insights on gender equality in biodiversity policy at the COP15 in Montreal. 

According to Archana Soreng (India) member of the…

It’s Time for Climate Change to Reach the International Court of Justice

Dec 14, 2022 | Douglas Kysar

For several decades, powerful governments and corporations have possessed detailed knowledge regarding the catastrophic risks posed by human-caused climate change. Yet, during those same decades, many holders of public…

Warfare and Global Warming

Dec 14, 2022 | Scott Moore

The human toll of war is reason enough alone to avoid it at almost any cost. But warfare’s impact on global warming raises a number…

Environmentalism for Sovereignty’s Sake

Dec 12, 2022 | Peter Schwartzstein

Egypt’s Gebel Elba National Park is, by all accounts, a spectacular place. But it better be to justify the fuss it takes to visit. First…

It's Complicated: Lessons for GBV Prevention in WASH Programs

Dec 9, 2022 | Olivia R. Tisa, Sarajane Renfroe, and Lorraine R. Kudayah-D'Almeida

Many women and girls, persons with disabilities, and ethnic and religious minorities experience challenges in accessing safe and clean water and sanitation, sometimes placing them…

Climate Change Worsens Gender-Based Violence: Here’s How the WPS Agenda Can Help

Dec 8, 2022 | Jenaina Irani

Climate change is a growing threat to progress, peace, security, and human rights. The negative impacts of climate change often have gendered impacts and are…

States Adopt New Legal Framework on the Environmental Impact of War

Dec 8, 2022 | Conflict and Environment Observatory

The new legal principles on the Protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts (PERAC) have been developed by the UN’s International Law Commission,…

Intelligence Agency’s 1981 Assessment of Climate-Change Threat Was Remarkably Accurate

Dec 8, 2022 | William Leben

Australia’s national intelligence agency has released a report that ‘examines the implications of the increasing accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as a result…

CARE’s COP27 Response: One Step Forward, but Many More Needed

Dec 6, 2022 | Marlene Achoki, CARE

We are disappointed to say that while COP27 made some progress recognizing the importance of gender justice, attendees ultimately took no collective action. Two weeks of…

Why We Need More Women at COPs

Dec 6, 2022 | Hellen Shikanda

Two women steered the historic negotiations that led to a funding mechanism under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for Loss and…

Climate Change and Ecological Security

Dec 5, 2022 | Matt McDonald

As climate change is increasingly recognized as a security issue, a parallel understanding is also developing. Traditional categories and approaches may not be the optimal…

The Age of Intersecting Crises?

Dec 5, 2022 | Tobias Ide

While climate change is arguably the most important challenge of our time, headlines were frequently dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of the…

Indigenous Women in STEM Are in a Unique Position to Stop Climate Change

Dec 5, 2022 | Leticia Tituana

In Kichwa, an indigenous language spoken in parts of Ecuador, Pachamama (“Mother Earth”) is a unique word that represents the harmonious bond between nature and the indigenous…