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20 April, 2017

Insurgency, Terrorism and Organised Crime in a Warming Climate - A Summary

Lukas Rüttinger, Adelphi

 

 

As the climate changes, so too do the conditions in which non-state armed groups operate. The complex risks presented by conflicts, climate change and increasingly fragile geophysical and socio-political conditions can contribute to the emergence and growth of non-state armed groups. Our new report examines the links between climate-fragility risks and non-state armed groups.

27 October, 2016

António Guterres and the Way Forward on Climate Change and Security

Francesca Cameron, New Security Beat

On October 13, the United Nations General Assembly appointed Antonio Guterres as the next UN secretary-general. When the former prime minister of Portugal and high commissioner for refugees begins his term in January 2017, he will face a world of increasing climate and security crises.

17 October, 2016

Climate Action is Critical for Sustaining Peace

Jonathan Rozen, Guest Writers

Worsening climate conditions directly threaten the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and with them the conditions for peaceful societies. As the Paris Agreement comes into force on November 4, 2016, the world will be committed to the best existing global strategy for limiting and reversing climate change. Advancing sustainable development and peace will require bold climate action that looks beyond short-term political constraints.

26 September, 2016

Report: Deadly Miscues on the Brahmaputra an Argument for More Transboundary Cooperation

Victoria Johnson, New Security Beat
Tibet-Temple

Over the course of 1,800 miles, 5,300 vertical feet, and at least five name changes, the Brahmaputra River, in sometimes turbulent outbursts, flows from the Tibetan plateau to the Bay of Bengal. Along the way, it crosses three countries, including major geopolitical rivals China and India, and supplies 90 percent of downstream Bangladesh’s freshwater during the dry season.

29 August, 2016

After Conflict, Peacebuilding and Recovery Efforts Too Often Miss the Environment

Tim Kovach, New Security Beat
Beni-peacekeeper1

In June 2010, The New York Times published a front page story trumpeting a Pentagon announcement of roughly $1 trillion worth of mineral resources in Afghanistan. Officials said the discovery was “far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself.” Then-President Hamid Karzai soon inflated the figure to $3 trillion and then again to $30 trillion, enough to transform the country into the “Saudi Arabia of lithium.”

22 August, 2016

Seven ways to build resilient local economies in fragile contexts

Clare Shakya, Guest Writers

Approaches developed in Mali, Senegal, Kenya and Tanzania offer insights for building resilience in areas facing risks of climate change, disasters and conflict.

08 August, 2016

Justice and Contemporary Climate Relocation: An Addendum to Words of Caution on “Climate Refugees”

Maxine Burkett, New Security Beat

Kiribati

The idea that climate change is causing migration and displacement is entering the mainstream, but experts have warned against using the term “climate refugees” to describe what we’re seeing in small islands, coastal regions, and even conflict zones like Syria.

05 August, 2016

Ethnic diversity and climate change: lessons on the conditions that bring about conflict

Austin Miles, Guest Writers

A paper published last week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences tests the hypothesis that climate related natural disasters may be part of the cause of conflict in countries with high ethnic fractionalization.

28 July, 2016

Governance in Focus: Insights from the International Expert Forum on Climate Change and Conflict

Austin Miles, New Security Beat

The International Expert Forum (IEF) is a series of seminars meant to facilitate dialogue between experts and policymakers on peace and security. Meeting in Stockholm this past May, the forum explored the connections between environmental issues, peacebuilding, and conflict while considering how environmental governance can aid in peacebuilding. The summary brief produced after the forum provides a useful snapshot of a fast-changing field of study.

27 July, 2016

Building peace in fragile contexts: Lessons on conflict-sensitivity from South Sudan

Shreya Mitra, International Alert

Earlier this month, armed clashes between competing factions of South Sudan’s government broke out in the capital Juba, a day after the nation’s fifth anniversary of its independence. The conflict dates back to political events and factional fighting that first emerged in 2013.

28 June, 2016

Climate, Water, and the Economy

Sara Gustafson (IFPRI), Guest Writers

The effects of climate change vary from region to region, but according to a new study from the World Bank, the majority of the global impact stemming from climate change will come through the water cycle. High and Dry: Climate Change, Water, and the Economy examines how scarce and variable water supplies will interact with growing global populations, rising incomes, and expanding urban areas and how smart policies and investments can reduce or eliminate the negative consequences.