Extreme weather events such as droughts and floods are expected to become more severe under future climate conditions. This implies a concern for policymakers in national and international security.
A major challenge in the field of environmental peacebuilding is showing the impact of its initiatives. Questions emerge, such as "Which dimensions of post-conflict peacebuilding are more likely to be affected by natural resource management projects?". Although quantitative studies assess the relation between natural resource management programmes and conflict risks, there is less research on what the specific mechanisms involved in implementing projects designed for environmental peacebuilding are.
Chatham House's International Affairs Journal has just released a special issue focused on environmental peacebuilding. adelphi Managing Director Alexander Carius, alongside Tobias Ide, Carl Bruch, Ken Conca, Geoffrey Dabelko, Richard Matthew and Erika Weinthal, introduces the special issue giving particular emphasis on environmental opportunities for building and sustaining peace.
On the 15th of December 2020, the High-level Panel on Green Alliance underlined the commitment of Caribbean states and the European Union (EU) to ambitious global climate action. Co-hosted by the German Federal Foreign Office and the European Commission, it demonstrated that action on climate change mitigation and resilience to climate-fragility risks will be core pillars for the future partnership between the two regions.
In his address on this year’s World Cities Day, UN-Secretary General António Guterres recognised that “cities have borne the brunt of the pandemic” and called upon governments to “prepare cities for future disease outbreaks”. Authorities cannot waste this opportunity to build back better by simultaneously addressing the increasing economic hardship for the urban poor and climate change impacts. This will help prevent not only future health risks but also the increased risk of urban violence and insecurity.
This paper is the result of a series of structured interviews with more than a dozen senior envoys, peace process facilitators and conflict resolution experts from the EU, UN, governments, and civil society conducted between May and June 2020. It presents a cross-section of experience, lessons learned and expectations about what the future holds for practitioners in trying to bring peace in a climate-changed world.
Michael Keating, Executive Director at the European Institue of Peace (EIP), argues that peacebuilding and conflict resolution must not disregard the impacts of the climate crisis on livelihoods, social cohesion and conflict resolution.
On 12 November 2020, experts spoke about climate change and mining, presented the main findings of the study ‘Impacts of climate change on mining, related environmental risks and raw material supply’, and discussed the way forward with contributions from the research community, private sector and civil society.
This four-week course aims at equipping participants with the tools to conduct localized climate risk assessments and integrate them into programmatic planning throughout the stages of a peacebuilding programme life-cycle—from early warning and responses to mediation and peacekeeping.
This year’s International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP) is titled: Just Transitions Toward Sustainable Societies in Asia and the Pacific: Building forward better for our future beyond COVID-19.
As political and public narratives on COVID-19 shift towards the need to ‘build back better’, the pandemic continues to take a heavy toll for many. A new report by the Climate Security Expert Network (CSEN) shows how COVID-19 can exacerbate climate-related security risks.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is hosting “Green Cities to build back better for SDGs – A new powerful venture”, to be held on the occasion of the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly.