14 Feb 2012 - On Friday 26 Jan 2012, adelphi’s exhibition on "Environment, Conflict and Cooperation" (ECC) has been launched at the World Social Forum with a focus on the civil societal preparation of the upcoming UN environmental conference “Rio+20”. The exhibition was jointly conceptualized by adelphi and the Brazilian environmental organization “Vitae Civilis”. It addresses the question, how climate change, environmental degradation and resource scarcity can be drivers of social and political conflict.

Over the past months, adelphi has developed a regional component for the exhibition together with the Brazilian environmental NGO “Vitae Civilis”. For the presentation in Brazil, the complete exhibition has also been translated into Portuguese. The regional component discusses the interlinkages between water scarcity, food and energy security. Moreover, it addresses the question how climate change could aggravate the existing problems or create new environmental challenges and what impact this will have on the living conditions of the Brazilian population.

The exhibition has been developed at the initiative of the German Federal Foreign Office and will be shown in other Brazilian cities in the course of this year. In parallel, similar exhibitions with regional components have been launched in China, South Africa and India.

For more information on the exhibition on "Environment, Conflict and Cooperation", please visit:
http://www.ecc-exhibition.org/en/project.htm

Source:
Climate Change
Environment & Migration
Security
Middle East & North Africa
adelphi

In this interview, EcoPeace Directors Nada Majdalani (Palestine), Yana Abu-Taleb (Jordan) and Gidon Bromberg (Israel) explain why disengaging from a shared environment can aggravate the region’s security challenges.

Climate Change
Security
Oceania & Pacific
Delia Paul, IISD

At the conclusion of the 50th Pacific Islands Forum, Pacific leaders issued a Forum Communiqué and the ‘Kainaki II Declaration for Urgent Climate Change Action Now’ – the strongest collective statement the Forum has issued on climate change. Pacific leaders highlight the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit, the SAMOA Pathway Review, and 25th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 25) to the UNFCCC as “global turning points to ensure meaningful, measurable and effective climate change action”.

Climate Diplomacy
Private Sector
South America
Central America & Caribbean
Adriana Erthal Abdenur, Igarapé Institute

If ratified, the Mercosur-EU trade deal may reinforce the parties’ commitment to climate action. Yet, its potential relevance is weakened by a language that often stops short of concrete commitments, as well as political resistance.

Climate Change
Water
Middle East & North Africa
Theodore Karasik and Jacopo Spezia Depretto, Fair Observer

Iraq is on the verge of an environmental breakdown, and climate change is not helping. The country's fragile environment and the increasing scarcity of natural resources — particularly water — are a result of poor environmental management, as well as several political and historical factors. However, as climate change impacts add to the existing pressures, the environmental collapse turns into a security issue.