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.
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 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.
Water and climate change are intricately linked. Global warming is changing the water cycle, affecting water availability and quality and extreme weather events such as droughts and floods. At the same time, sustainable water management and energy-efficient wastewater treatment play an important role in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. This state-of-the-art report encapsulates the main impacts of climate change on the water cycle and highly water-dependent sectors.
This policy brief provides a typology and analysis of climate-related security risks in the first round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
Tensions in the South China Sea increased last April when a Chinese coast guard ship sank a Vietnamese fishing boat near the Paracel Islands—a fiercely disputed territory in the South China Sea. Disputes over island territories in the region have endured for decades, with China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei all making overlapping territorial claims. The region is rich in natural resources and biodiversity, holding vast fish stocks and an estimated 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 cubic feet of natural gas.
This policy brief explores initial lessons learnt from a climate security perspective of efforts to prevent violent extremism in politically and environmentally fragile contexts affected by climate change.
Although Nepal’s overall security situation has improved considerably and is stable, important underlying drivers and structural causes of conflict still exist. Climate change accentuates Nepal’s economic and political vulnerabilities. Climate impacts can act as a stressor on existing drivers and structural causes of conflict, adding an additional layer of risk to Nepal’s resilience.
The 2020 Berlin Climate and Security Conference (BCSC) proved an important space for international organisations, the scientific community, the private sector and civil society to convene, discuss how climate change is affecting peace and security, and to explore the concrete actions to address climate-security risks.
The COVID-19 pandemic has profound global impacts. While all countries have been affected, the pandemic is hitting those that were already struggling with poverty, conflict and the impacts of climate change especially hard. This report seeks to explore these dynamics.
Now in its second decade, the ambitious African Union–led restoration initiative known as the Great Green Wall has brought close to 18 million hectares of land under restoration since 2007, according to a status report unveiled by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) at a virtual meeting on Monday, 7 September.
Geneva Peace Week (GPW) is a leading annual forum in the international peacebuilding calendar, and the flagship event of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform. This year, the forum will take place entirely online.
For years, land and environmental defenders have been the first line of defence against climate breakdown. Yet despite clearer evidence than ever of the crucial role they play, far too many businesses, financiers and governments fail to safeguard their vital and peaceful work.