Alec Crawford

Senior Policy Advisor and Lead, Environment Conflict and Peacebuilding
International Institute for Sustainable Development
Canada

Jul 28, 2020

Alec Crawford is a Senior Policy Advisor with the International Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD)’s Resilience and Economic Law and Policy programs, and is the lead on IISD’s Environment, Conflict and Peacebuilding project. His work focuses on mining governance, climate change adaptation, and the nexus of environmental change, natural resources, conflict, and peacebuilding. He works extensively with the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF) on mining law and governance, in countries as diverse as Madagascar, Mauritania, Papua New Guinea, Suriname and Uganda. He also supports climate adaptation planning and action through the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Global Network, working with governments like Sierra Leone, Ghana and Saint Lucia on how they can effectively respond to a changing climate. Alec holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University and a Master of Science in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics. In addition to his work with IISD, Alec has also worked as an independent consultant, working with organizations such as the United Nations Environment Programme on environment, security, and greening peacekeeping operations. Before entering the environmental field, he worked in corporate finance.

Over the course of his career, Alec has spent a lot of time exploring the linkages between natural resource management and political and economic insecurity. This has included extensive research into the challenges of undertaking conservation and resource management actions in conflict zones, with a focus on Central, West and East Africa. Recent work on resources and conflict has included looking at the conflict implications of the transition to a low carbon economy. He has researched and authored a report that combines maps of known reserves of key mineral inputs for green energy technologies with maps of fragility and corruption indicators, in order to see where potential hotspots for conflict might exist or emerge. Specifically, the report looked at cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo, lithium in Zimbabwe and South America, bauxite in Guinea, and rare earth elements in China. This work encourages policy makers and legislators to look beyond the commonly discussed conflict resources of tantalum, tin, tungsten, gold, and diamonds in order to consider the next generation of conflict minerals. It also encourages them to take a proactive approach to sourcing conflict-free minerals in a responsible way that respects human rights. 

Throughout his career, Alec has also worked on issues of climate change and conflict. Most recently, this has focused on adaptation actions in fragile states, and the critical role that adaptation planning can play in building lasting peace. Through this work, he notes the importance of taking a nuanced approach grounded in local perspectives, and warns against making the assumption that populations living in harsh climates will automatically resort to violence in the face of climate-induced hardship. Reflecting on field research from early in his career in Burkina Faso, he explains, “There’s a hypothesis that there’s a link between conflict and climate change, but when we were speaking with experts in the region, we heard that people have been adapting to living in harsh climates for centuries. Assuming that everything will fall into violent chaos is not something that we should automatically subscribe to. We should always keep in mind the need to check ourselves before we buy into certain narratives.” Alec also stresses the importance of continuing to work on issues of conflict, environment, and peacebuilding during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has in many ways increased the need for the work that members of the Association are doing, despite current limitations due to the field-based nature of much work.

Alec underscores the importance of environmental peacebuilding for anyone thinking about international development and interested in supporting sustainable development. He explains, “A lot of the time, the greatest need when it comes to development on the national level is from countries affected by conflict. Exploring this through the lens of environmental peacebuilding helps us to address the environmental and resource components of conflict in countries that are struggling the most.” He also cites his own deep love for nature and ecosystems as a driver of his connection to environmental peacebuilding.