Issue #163 – Apr 7, 2020

Announcements

COVID-19 and the Environmental Peacebuilding Knowledge Platform

March 24, 2020 | Environmental Peacebuilding Association

As we collectively continue through an extraordinary public health emergency, we recognize that the everyone's lives and routines are in flux.

Events

For more upcoming events on environmental peacebuilding, please visit our online calendar of events.

Virtual Consultation to Gauge Interest in a Private Sector Interest Group

May 12, 2020 Environmental Peacebuilding Association
online

The Environmental Peacebuilding Association (EnPAx) is considering the creation of an Interest Group to engage members working on the link between environmental affairs, peacebuilding, and the private sector.

Water, Sanitation, COVID-19, and Cooperation in the Middle East

April 30, 2020 Environmental Peacebuilding Association
online

The UN Secretary-General recently called for a global ceasefire considering the unprecedented threats posed by COVID-19 in conflict-affected areas.

IMPACT’s Innovative Approach to Monitoring and Evaluation

April 29, 2020 Environmental Peacebuilding Association
online

In this webinar, IMPACT will walk participants through its M&E system and provide examples of how the analysis generated by the data can be rendered actionable to achieve measurable SDG results.

Getting Published: How to Tell Your Story to the Media

April 24, 2020 Environmental Peacebuilding Association
online

This webinar is a part of a mentorship series hosted by the Environmental Peacebuilding Association’s Young Professionals Interest Group.

Self-Paced MOOC on Environmental Security & Sustaining Peace (CLOSING SOON)

January 30, 2020 - 2020-06-23 Environmental Peacebuilding Association, UN Environment, ELI, Columbia University, Duke University, UC Irvine, UNDP, and SDG Academy
online

Conflicts over natural resources and the environment are among the greatest challenges in 21st-century geopolitics. These conflicts present serious threats to human security at both the national and local levels.

Library

In the last two weeks, 31 new publications were added to our online library of materials on environmental peacebuilding. Here is a sampling of the new additions:

City of Black Gold: Oil, Ethnicity, and the Making of Modern Kirkuk

January 1, 2020 | Arbella Bet-Shlimon
Stanford University Press

Kirkuk is Iraq's most multilingual city, for millennia home to a diverse population. It was also where, in 1927, a foreign company first struck oil in Iraq.

Multilateral Cooperation in the Area of Climate-Related Security and Development Risks in Africa

January 1, 2020 | Cedric H. de Coning and Florian Krampe
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs

Over the past decade the impact of climate change on people’s everyday lives have become tangible.

On Environmental Law, Climate Change & National Security Law

January 1, 2020 | Mark Nevitt
Harvard Environmental Law Review

This Article offers a new way to think about climate change.

Maintaining Peace and Stability in Mali's Sikasso Region: Strategies to Contain Land-Related Conflicts

January 1, 2020 | Camille Marquette
International Alert

Access to land is at the heart of inter-communal conflict in Mali.

Water Security and Governance in the Horn of Africa

January 1, 2020 | Florian Krampe, Luc van de Goor, Anniek Barnhoorn, Elizabeth Smith, and Dan Smith
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

The Horn of Africa—here defined as the member states of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development—is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change such as droughts and floods.

Armed Conflicts and the Environment: The International Law Commission's New Draft Principles

January 1, 2020 | Marja Lehto
Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law

The International Law Commission’s work on the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts has produced 28 draft principles with commentaries, which the Commission adopted in first reading in 2019.

Gaza: The Undrinkable Water of a Land under Seige [Video]

January 1, 2020 | Rakan Abed El Rahman
International Middle East Media Center

Experts say Israeli policies and wars are to blame for a deepening water crisis in Gaza that will have detrimental effects on public health, especially on the most vulnerable segment of society: children.

From Arms to Farms: A Conversation with Casimiro Olvida [Audio]

January 1, 2019 | Environmental Change and Security Program and Environmental Peacebuilding Association
Environmental Change and Security Program and Environmental Peacebuilding Association

“This project is serious,” Casimiro Olvida said. “It will help the community. If you do not believe me, you can kill me anytime.

Highlights on the Resilience and Vulnerability of Populations Affected by Conflict

January 1, 2019
Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN and Tufts University

This is the third in a series of three briefing papers that form part of the Mind the gap – Bridging the research, practice and policy divide to enhance livelihood resilience in conflict…

Global Climate Risk Index 2020: Who Suffers Most from Extreme Weather Events? Weather-Related Loss Events in 2018 and 1999 to 2018

January 1, 2019 | David Eckstein, Vera Kunzel, Laura Schafer, and Maik Winges
Germanwatch

The Global Climate Risk Index 2020 analyses to what extent countries and regions have been affected by impacts of weather-related loss events (storms, floods, heatwaves etc. ).

All Hell Breaking Loose: The Pentagon's Perspective on Climate Change

January 1, 2019 | Michael T. Klare
Metropolitan Books

The Pentagon, unsentimental and politically conservative, might not seem likely to be worried about climate change―still linked, for many people, with polar bears and coral reefs.

Conceptual Framework for Environmental Peacebuilding (Chapter 1.3 in Massive Open Online Course on Environmental Security & Sustaining Peace) [Video]

January 1, 2019 | Carl Bruch
UNEP, ELI, Columbia University, Duke University, University of California Irvine, UNDP, and SDG Academy

This chapter provides the conceptual framework of the various ways that natural resources, environment, conflict, and peace are connected across the conflict lifecycle.

Evolution of Environment, Peace, and Conflict Linkages (Chapter 1.2 in Massive Open Online Course on Environmental Security & Sustaining Peace) [Video]

January 1, 2018 | Ken Conca
UNEP, ELI, Columbia University, Duke University, University of California Irvine, and SDG Academy

This chapter examines the evolution of understanding on the linkages between environment, conflict, and peace from World War II through to the present.

Jobs

Please visit our jobs page to view these positions and other job opportunities.

CAR: Community Conservation and Livelihoods Coordinator

April 5, 2020 | Wildlife Conservation Society

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a US non-profit, tax-exempt, private organization established in 1895 that saves wildlife and wild places by understanding critical issues, crafting science-based solutions, and taking conservation actions that…

Myanmar: Senior Freshwater Ecologist

April 5, 2020 | World Wildlife Fund for Nature

WWF Myanmar was established in 2013 and is working to conserve the country’s biodiversity and build a sustainable future for people and wildlife.

Nigeria: Programme Development Officer

April 5, 2020 | Cooperazione Internazionale

Cooperazione Internazionale (COOPI) is an Italian humanitarian non-governmental organization founded in Milan in 1965.

Jordan: Technical Coordinator

April 5, 2020 | United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is a United Nations agency with the mandate to protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people, and assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or…

South Sudan: WASH Officer

April 5, 2020 | United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Chad: Programme Director

April 5, 2020 | Concern Worldwide

Concern has been operating in Chad since 2007 and, following an initial response to the refugee crisis in the East, has further developed its presence in country mainly through integrated programme and by…

International News

In the last two weeks, 11 international news items on environmental peacebuilding were posted on our website. The following is a sampling:

Mali: New App Predicts Water-Related Conflict Up to Year in Advance

December 5, 2019 | Emma Batha, Thomson Reuters Foundation

Conflicts over water are likely to flare up in Iraq, Mali and India in the coming year, according to the developers of an app launched on Thursday which aims to help prevent violence…

Liberia: Sime Darby to Sell Liberia Plantation to Local Manufacturer - Minister

December 5, 2019 | Reuters

Malaysia’s Sime Darby plans to sell its palm oil concession in Liberia to a local manufacturer, a Liberian government minister said on Thursday, following subpar financial results due largely to stricter environmental standards.

Myanmar: Myanmar to Establish School for Forest Rangers

December 3, 2019 | Myat Moe Aung, Myanmar Times

The government will establish the first wildlife conservation college for forest rangers in a bid to strengthen its campaign to protect and conserve the country’s wildlife and biodiversity, the Forest Department said.

Syria: In Syria, the Environmental Toll of War Beginning to Emerge

December 3, 2019 | Fanack.com

With the war in Syria entering its ninth year, the impact on the country’s environment, its natural resources and the people who depend on them is becoming increasingly pressing.

Afghanistan: Payment Sought for Land under Refugee Camp Use

December 1, 2019 | Dawn

The elders of Junglekhel have demanded monthly payment for their land given to the Ghamkol Afghan refugee camp by the Afghan commissionerate since 1980.

Afghanistan: President Orders Contract Termination of Afghan Major Gold, Copper Mines, Contractor Considers It Politically Biased

December 1, 2019 | Khushnood Nabizada, Khaama Press

The two major Afghan mining contracts are to be terminated, Afghan president has ordered in a high economic council meeting.

Land: Dealing with Land Conflicts and Improving Land Governance for Peace and Stability in Africa at the Heart of a High-Level Dialogue in Abidjan

November 29, 2019 | UN Economic Commission for Africa

Friday in Abidjan, the conference on land policy in Africa, a high-level dialogue on ethnicity and land conflicts were held.

Colombia: For Sustainable Cacao Farming in Colombia, Going Organic Is Not Necessarily the Only Good Answer

November 27, 2019 | Maria Eliza Villarino, International Center for Tropical Agriculture

If there’s one word that encapsulates Colombia, it is diversity.

Blogs & Opinion

In the last two weeks, 6 blogs & opinion pieces on environmental peacebuilding were posted on our website.

With the World Pre-Occupied with Coronavirus, Israel Pushes a West Bank Land Grab

April 2, 2020 | Evan Gottesman

An emergency unity government to confront coronavirus: that’s been Benjamin Netanyahu’s pitch to his rivals in Kachol Lavan since Israel’s March 2 Knesset elections.

Renewable Energy as an Opportunity for Peace?

April 2, 2020 | Vane Moraa Aminga

Growth in global energy demands due to population and economic growth has caused energy-sector emissions to rise and surpass historic records.

Show Me! Laying the Foundation for the Next Generation of Environmental Peacebuilding

March 31, 2020 | Carl Bruch

As documented by the New Security Beat, environmental peacebuilding has grown dramatically as a field in recent years.

Members Urge States and the IUCN to Address Conflicts and Biodiversity

March 31, 2020 | Stavros Pantazopoulos

The topic of the protection of the environment in relation armed conflicts (PERAC) is increasingly attracting the attention of the international community.

How Gum Acacia Trees Could Help Build Peace in the Sahel

March 30, 2020 | Ousseyni Kalilou

A special type of tree could facilitate peacebuilding in the Sahel.

The Future of Climate Change and Peace

March 26, 2020 | Maxine Burkett and Maya Soetoro-Ng

As fires rage in Australia and in the Amazon, hurricanes ravage the Caribbean year after year, and glacial melt threatens entire communities in the high mountains of Asia and Europe, peace and climate…

Join the Association

The Environmental Peacebuilding Association® (EnPAx®) is the leading global network that brings together practitioners, researchers, and decision makers working on environment, conflict, and peace. EnPAx includes both individual and institutional members. If you have any questions regarding membership, please contact us at membership@environmentalpeacebuilding.org.

Sharing and Posting Materials

The strength of the knowledge platform depends on submissions and suggestions on contents from users. To share publications and information on events, job opportunities, and other announcements, please contact share@environmentalpeacebuilding.org. Please also feel free to share ideas on how the platform can be further improved to meet your needs.

About Our Community of Practice

Environmental Peacebuilding is a knowledge platform and global community of practice on natural resources, conflict, and peace, hosted by the Environmental Peacebuilding Association. The platform unites a global network of researchers, practitioners, and decision makers in sharing experiences and lessons from managing natural resources in fragile states and conflict-affected settings. The platform also helps people to access new publications on the topic, conduct new research, and participate in events to support the growth of the field. As part of our Community of Practice, we bring you biweekly updates on recent developments, including news about our program as well as links to new publications, upcoming conferences and events, and job openings.

Please visit us at www.environmentalpeacebuilding.org for more information.

Compiled by Andrew Blunt, Rollin Bresson, Elen Bueno, Alex Caplan, Charlotte Collins, Jordan Dieni, Kevin Eggert, Flavia Eichmann, Giovanni Gio, Desirée De Haven, Liz Hessami, Ellen Johnson, Chiara Maero, Marie Mavrikios, Julia Monsarrat, and Rachel Stern
Edited by Joel Young
Coordinated by Sierra Killian and Rachel Stromsta
Design by Graham Campbell
Managed and edited by Carl Bruch and David Jensen