Blogs & Opinions

What Next for Climate Security? Implications From IPCC Working Group II 6th Assessment Report

Apr 11, 2022 | Elisabeth Gilmore, Halvard Buhaug, and Helen Adams

The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report (AR6) from Working Group II (WG2): Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability presents the stark implications of climate change. Some…

Do Mention the War: Why Conservation NGOs Must Speak Out on Biodiversity and Conflicts

Apr 11, 2022 | Henrike Schulte to Bühne

After the Aichi targets, which aimed to slow global biodiversity loss by 2020, were missed, conservation organisations turned their attention to the post-2020 biodiversity framework, which is…

Weaponising Water — Ukraine's Dams Are Targets in Putin's War

Apr 8, 2022 | Nicholas Hildyard and Josh Klemm

In the early hours of 26 February 2022, Ukrainian air defences shot down a Russian missile reportedly heading for the Kyiv dam on the Dnieper…

Three Ways to Build Back Greener in Community Health

Apr 7, 2022 | Shirley Ko

Yet another IPCC report published this week reminds us that we are at a critical crossroads to slow the rate of global warming. As COVID-19 gradually shifts…

The Climate Solutions That Play Double-Duty

Apr 7, 2022 | Yusuf Jameel and Aiyana Bodi

Finance for climate action is growing—however, much of this money is being invested in wealthier nations, while the regions where funds are needed most are often…

The Lawfare Podcast: How Russia's War in Ukraine Affects Energy and Climate Security

Apr 6, 2022 | Jen Patja Howell

In the last few weeks, much has been said about how energy issues are playing into Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine. It's especially coming up…

Sharing Cross-Border Water Resources: Cooperation or Conflict?

Apr 5, 2022 | Ruby Russell

From the Euphrates to the Mekong, dams that ensure one country's water supply risk leaving others parched.According to the UN, close to 300 international water…

Converging Risks: Demographic Trends, Gender Inequity, and Security Challenges in the Sahel

Apr 4, 2022

Security conditions in the Sahel are rapidly deteriorating. Since 2016, the region has witnessed a 16-fold increase in terrorist attacks. In Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania,…

Stolen Real Estate — Like Blood Diamonds — Is Funding Deadly Conflicts

Apr 3, 2022 | Jon Unruh

The use of conflict resources to finance wars is expanding into new commodities — with much more severe consequences. An example is the successful trafficking…

Gaza Coming Water Crisis Worse Than Anything Yet?

Apr 2, 2022 | Ramzy Baroud

It is important to keep in mind that the water crisis in Gaza has been ongoing for years, and every aspect of this protracted crisis…

The Key to Climate Action and Sustainable Peace? Women’s Full and Equal Participation

Mar 31, 2022

Climate change is not gender neutral, and for activist Fatima Muriel, this fact is all too real for thousands of women in her home country, Colombia. 

In…

A Closer Look at the Intersection of Gender and Security

Mar 31, 2022 | Deseri Tsepetis

While there has been progress in advancing civil rights and visibility for women and transgender folks, there is a long way to go to build…

Defence Diplomacy as a Tool to Cope with the Climate Crisis

Mar 31, 2022 | S. Nanthini

The recently published Sixth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has highlighted significant increases in extreme weather events, which are likely to lead to…

Iraq’s Climate Change Response: The Private Sector and Civil Society

Mar 29, 2022 | Maha Yassin

In recent years, Iraq has been severely affected by climate change, with heat waves of above 50˚ C increasing in regularity. Climate change has had…

Gaza’s Forthcoming Crisis Might Be Worse Than Anything We Have Ever Seen

Mar 29, 2022 | Ramzy Baroud

According to Amnesty International, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank consume, on average, 73 liters of water a day, per person. Compare this to an…

How Water Crisis Impacts the Ukraine Conflict

Mar 29, 2022 | Ashok Swain

Though the water war catchphrase is often used in public discourse to hype up the issue of water scarcity, the correlation between water and war…

What Do We Know about Climate Change, Peace and Conflict?

Mar 29, 2022 | Tobias Ide

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the world-leading body assessing scientific evidence on climate change. Researchers criticised the previous 2007 and 2014 versions of the…

Putin’s Environmental Crimes

Mar 28, 2022 | Natalia Boiarchuk and Kathleen Rogers

In the wake of thousands of deaths of civilians, including children, Russia’s ongoing environmental crimes in Ukraine may be viewed of minor importance given the enormity of…

Cold War Redux: How a Dam On The Nile Has Become an International Issue

Mar 28, 2022 | Richard Seifmanand and Claude Forthomme

The Nile has long been a point of contention between Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan, with a history of past and present superpowers shifting allegiances at…

Responses to Putin’s War Risk Impeding International Cooperation on Climate

Mar 28, 2022 | Andrew Newton

Less than a month after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the conflict which has so far caused thousands of military and civilian deaths and forced…

We’re in a Fossil Fuel War. Biden Should Say So.

Mar 24, 2022 | Farhad Manjoo

On one hand, it would seem uncontroversial to point out that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a war enabled and exacerbated by the world’s insatiable…

Is the World Making Enough Progress on Addressing Gender Equality Within Climate Action?

Mar 23, 2022 | Verania Chao

We can only transition to zero-carbon and climate resilient development to the extent that we transform our societies. One of the areas in which this…

Informal Spouses and Other “Invisible" Women: The Dark Underbelly of Land Rights Formalization

Mar 23, 2022 | Dr. Anne Hennings

As every year, the month of March has been packed with content and events around the globe related to women's land rights. The Land Portal…

Guns, Butter and Gold

Mar 23, 2022 | Rick Mills

Gold is among the safest of havens in times of war, or any other type of geopolitical instability.  After the US and the UK announced…

It’s Time to Defuse Oil as a Weapon of War

Mar 22, 2022 | Jeff Turrentine

Despite being the largest country on the planet, Russia doesn’t enjoy a diversified economy. Its economic health, in fact, depends almost entirely on its ability…

Climate Resilience for Whom? The Importance of Locally-Led Development in the Northern Triangle

Mar 21, 2022 | Claire Doyle

In the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, climate, conflict, and migration are interacting in complex ways, said Risi. It is the…

Is Climate Change a Gender Issue? Impact of Climate Change on Women and Children

Mar 18, 2022 | Azera Parveen Rahman

As the number of vagaries of climate extremes increases, so has the disproportionate burden on women and children, finds growing evidence. Policies, however, are yet…

Putting Women at the Centre of Forest Solutions to Climate Change

Mar 18, 2022 | Alexis Arthur and Elizabeth Eggerts

The role of gender equality in climate mitigation activities is critical to address both the climate crisis and support ‘gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow’…

One Thing Nuclear Power Plants Weren’t Built to Survive: War

Mar 18, 2022 | Kate Brown, Susan Solomon

The day Russia invaded Ukraine, Russian forces took control of the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant. A week later, flares from Russian artillery lit up…

War in Ukraine Lengthens List of Violent Acts over Water

Mar 17, 2022 | Brett Walton

In late February, as Vladimir Putin’s war machine was beginning to uncoil, Russian forces destroyed a dam in Ukraine that was blocking water from a…