Raging fires, expanding mineral extraction and land clearing for agribusiness are not only destroying Amazonian lands and biodiversity, they are also eradicating fundamental knowledge on land stewardship. Climate diplomacy has a key role to play in protecting archaeological sites that preserve lessons from the past that could help the Amazon recover in the future.
Water is a critical resource everywhere, but in the Middle East, it is a defining issue. Changing demographics, poor management and climate change are pummelling the region’s already alarming water security situation. EcoPeace Middle East’s brand new report ‘A Green Blue Deal for the Middle East’ taps into water as a make-or-break issue for regional cooperation, economic development, and even for the future of peace negotiations.
This report seeks to inform Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian policy makers, and the understanding of international stakeholders, as they work to meet climate-related challenges in the Middle East. The authors’ assessment is that a deal that gives emphasis to the importance of water issues in the region is a feasible and effective policy approach to an urgent challenge, and one that can serve to address conflict drivers, advance a two state solution and promote trust-building and cooperation in a conflict-mired region.
In Sudan, the term ‘climate war’ has often been used to draw a direct causal link between climate change and conflict. In reality, these conflicts are far more complex, which can be traced back to a history of regional marginalisation, ethno-occupational tensions, and failures in governance.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative projects may exacerbate the risk of climate-related instability across the Middle East in the long term.
Women in the region suffer disproportionately from climate impacts, but they also play an essential role in addressing climate change. With the right policy responses, it is possible to reduce security risks and empower women to better address the challenges they face.
Climate change pressures are already interacting with conflict dynamics in the Horn of Africa. European actors are approaching climate security risks in the Horn through interventions and projects across the region. This CSEN Policy Paper provides an overview of the linkages, in the literature and in the region, between climate change or viarability and violent conflict, and an overview of some of the interventions in the region.
Over the past 15 years, climate-related risks to peace and stability have risen fast up the European agenda. This report explores the extent to which this policy focus has influenced the international agenda and the degree to which it has translated into improved European responses to the causes and consequences of insecurity in fragile states, proposing three areas of action.
State fragility, often related to the expansion of organised crime and human rights violations, has contributed towards elevated rates of violence across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Additionally, high inequality is shaping how climate affects security in the region, raising new issues about climate justice and climate-related migration. In short, climate change acts as a risk multiplier in LAC, exacerbating existing conflict and fragility dynamics.
Insecurity is plaguing north-western Nigeria, due to persistent herder-farmer tensions, rising crime and infiltration by Islamist militants. Federal and state authorities should focus on resolving conflict between agrarian and pastoralist communities, through dialogue and resource-sharing agreements, while also stepping up law enforcement.
This webinar discussed the gender dimensions of climate change and its associated security risks, by presenting new insights from urban Pakistan, northern Nigeria, and Freetown, Sierra Leone.
The majority of Mali’s regions are currently affected by violent conflict. At the same time, Mali’s climate is changing. This climate security risk brief outlines linkages between climate change and security in Mali and their implications for peace and stability.
Human mobility plays an important role in the shaping of the world's urban centers. These four infographics, prepared by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), highlight urban human mobility trends, focusing on Africa and Europe.
In response to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 situation, the UN System Staff College (UNSSC) is expanding its online offerings in the form of “Coffee Hours”. Climate security was one of the featured topics. This session focused on the opportunities and challenges of translating climate risk analysis into regional conflict and climate-sensitive programming.