Issue #226 – Sep 6, 2022

Announcements

Request for Applications: USIP Peace Scholar Fellowship 2023-2024

September 6, 2022 | US Institute of Peace

USIP's Peace Scholar Fellowship program awards non-residential fellowships to PhD candidates enrolled in U. S.

Seeking Perspectives on Issues of Gender, Peace, Environment, and Sustainable Development

August 24, 2022 | The National Women’s Network in Colombia

The National Women’s Network in Colombia is seeking individuals who would be interested in engaging in a dialogue of experts and others investigating the possibilities of action at the intersection between gender, peace,…

Events

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

Introduction to Climate and Environmental Security in Peace Operations

November 1, 2022 - 2022-11-04 Climate Diplomacy and ZIF Center for International Peace Operations
Berlin, Germany

This course is organized by the Berlin Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF) in cooperation with adelphi and aims at building practical skills on understanding and analyzing climate-related security risks in order to…

Pandemic, Social Unrest and War Echoing in the Amazon

September 29, 2022 Land Portal Foundation, Tenure Facility, Ford Foundation, and Thomson Reuters Foundation
online

Recent global events have had dyre impacts on the world's remaining forests, particularly in tropical regions.

Conflict and Food Security, GFA Implementation, and More!

September 13, 2022 Alliance for Peacebuilding and Stimson Center
Washington, DC and online

In the lead-up to the United Nations General Assembly, join AfP and the Stimson Center on Tuesday, September 13th at 10am ET for a conversation on conflict and food insecurity.

"Gender, Conflict, and Peacebuilding" Course

September 7, 2022 - 2022-09-09 Swisspeace and the University of Basel
kHaus, Basel, Switzerland

This course examines the relationship between gender, violent conflict, and peacebuilding.

Library

In the last two weeks, 18 new publications were added to our online library of materials on environmental peacebuilding. Here is a sampling of the new additions:

A European Green Deal for Militaries to Strengthen Europe's Defence

January 1, 2022 | Louise van Schaik and Akash Ramnath
Clingendael and Planetary Security Initiative

This Clingendael policy brief points out six wins for the EU when decarbonising the military.

Women, Peace and Security and Land Reform

January 1, 2022 | Clare Castillejo and Pilar Domingo
Overseas Development Institute

Peacebuilding processes involve a wide range of change or reform processes through which the rules of political, social and economic exchange are contested and renegotiated to address the underlying causes of conflict.

The Nature of Conflict and Peace: The Links between Environment, Security and Peace and Their Importance for the United Nations

January 1, 2022 | Lukas Rüttinger, Raquel Munayer, Pia van Ackern, and Florian Titze
World Wide Fund for Nature and adelphi

A new report by WWF and adelphi looks at the complex nexus between nature and security.

Integrating the Concept of Peacebuilding in Sustainability Impact Assessment

January 1, 2022 | Katharina Löhr, Héctor Morales-Muñoz, Tatiana Rodriguez, Camilo Lozano, Martha Del Rio, Samyra Hachmann, Michelle Bonatti, Julia Pazmino, Augusto Castro-Nuñez, and Stefan Sieber
Environmental Impact Assessment Review

This paper integrates peacebuilding components into sustainability impact assessment (SIA) for application in geographies vulnerable to, recovering from, or experiencing conflict.

Putin's Ukraine Gambit Was 'Self-Defeating'

January 1, 2022 | Keith Johnson
Foreign Policy

Two experts on energy and geopolitics talk about spiking prices, Russia’s war, and what that means for the climate fight.

The Climate-Security Nexus in the IPCC Report Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability

January 1, 2022
Weathering Risk

This document gathers quotations on the links between climate change and conflict in the IPCC Working Group II report Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.

Armed Conflicts and the Environment: Complementing the Laws of Armed Conflicts with Human Rights Law and International Environmental Law

January 1, 2022 | Anne Dienelt
Springer

The book rethinks the means of harmonization of prima facie norm conflicts in light of the multitude of international agreements across regimes.

Disasters as Ambivalent Multipliers: Influencing the Pathways from Disaster to Conflict Risk and Peace Potential through Disaster Risk Reduction

January 1, 2022 | Laura E. R. Peters
Journal of Peacebuilding and Development

Disasters, including disaster-related activities, have been shown to precipitate, intensify, and lengthen violent conflicts, yet disasters have also demonstrated the potential to reduce violent conflict, encourage cooperation, and build peace.

Climate Change, Violent Conflict and Environmental Peacebuilding: Understanding the Interlinkages

January 1, 2022 | Tobias Ide
Development and Peace Foundation

In many parts of the world, climate change has severe impacts not only on human security but also on economic and political stability.

Why Climate Change Matters for Human Security

January 1, 2022 | Janani Vivekananda
UN Environment Program and UN University Centre for Policy Research

This paper explores the mix of mediating factors with a view to understand and inform decision- makers on how these factors affect the capacity of individuals and institutions to adapt to climate change and…

International News

In the last two weeks, 43 international news items on environmental peacebuilding were posted on our website. The following is a sampling:

Afghanistan: Afghanistan's Taliban Step up Coal Exports to Boost Local Budget

May 26, 2022 | Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Reuters

The Afghan Taliban are stepping up coal exports to Pakistan and have raised duties on sales, officials said, as the group aims to generate more revenue from its mining sector in the absence…

Niger/Sahel: Building Peace in the Sahel with ‘the Great Green Wall’

May 26, 2022 | UNDP

When it started in 2007, the Great Green Wall (GGW) was envisioned as a tree-planting initiative to restore Africa’s degraded landscapes and transform millions of lives in the Sahel.

Iraq: Iraq Targets 12 GW of Renewables by 2030

May 26, 2022 | Anna Ivanova, Renewables Now

Iraq, a major oil producer, aims to have 12 GW of renewables generation capacity by the end of the decade, oil minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar told the country's official newspaper Al-Sabaah.

Afghanistan: Badghis Farmers Want Water Shortage Issue Addressed

May 25, 2022 | Pajhwok Afghan News

Farmers in northwestern Badghis province have expressed satisfaction with recent rains after a dry spring.

Liberia: 'Passage of Revenue Sharing Bill Will Accelerate Liberia’s Development'

May 25, 2022 | Alvin Worzi, Observer

The Executive Director of Integrity Watch (IW), Harold Aidoo, said the passage of the Revenue Sharing Bill into law will assist in accelerating Liberia’s development by putting money in the hands of local…

Ukraine: The Ukraine War’s Collateral Damage

May 24, 2022 | Michael Klare, TomDispatch

The war in Ukraine has already caused massive death and destruction, with more undoubtedly to come as the fighting intensifies in the country’s east and south.

Australia: Australian Women Document Climate Crisis in Visual Petition – In Pictures

May 23, 2022 | Tracey Nearmy, The Guardian

The #everydayclimatecrisis visual petition is a collection of more than 1,000 photographs taken by women and non-binary people across Australia showing the impact of the climate crisis on their lives.

Ukraine: Ukraine's Natural Environment Is Another Casualty of War. The Damage Could Be Felt for Decades

May 22, 2022 | Ivana Kottasová, CNN

While the world's eyes are focused on the human suffering brought about by Russia's invasion, environmental experts in Ukraine are keeping a close record of the environmental damage it has caused, to try…

Sudan/South Sudan: Khartoum and Juba Hold Talks On Cooperation in Petroleum Field

May 22, 2022 | Sudan News Agency

Joint talks between Khartoum and Juba began today in Khartoum to develop joint cooperation in the field of petroleum, discuss technical and financial arrangements, increase oil production and the challenges that faced implementation…

Ukraine/Russia: The Russian Army Has Burned Forests and Poisoned Water Supplies, Flouting International Law. As the UN Draws up New Guidelines, Is It Possible to Wage an “Eco” War?

May 21, 2022 | Philippa Nuttall, New Statesman

The purple shoots of spring meadow saffron are usually a welcome sign of spring in Ukraine. This year the rare flowers lie crushed, destroyed by Russian tanks.

Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Aims to Establish New Oil Company in Kurdistan Region

May 21, 2022 | Rowena Edwards, Reuters

Iraq’s federal government aims to establish a new oil company in the Kurdistan region, the oil ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Food Security: UN Security Council Meeting: Agriculture Is Key to Lasting Peace and Security, FAO Says

May 19, 2022 | Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN

The head of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today called for greater funding for agriculture to ensure there’s available and accessible food in crisis situations, noting that conflict…

South Sudan: Century-Old Canal Project Sparks Opposition in South Sudan

May 19, 2022 | Deng Machol, Associated Press

A petition to stop the revival of the 118-year-old Jonglei Canal project in South Sudan, started by one of the country’s top academics, is gaining traction in the country, with the waterway touted…

DRC: Results of Mining Tax for Reforestation in the DRC Leave More Questions Than Answers

May 19, 2022 | Didier Makal, Mongabay

Through taxes, in particular the reforestation tax, logging and mining operators in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) must pledge to restore landscapes they have damaged through their activities.

Syria: Syria’s Poisoned Earth: How Years of Conflict Have Polluted and Destroyed Syrian Land

May 16, 2022 | Loujeina Haj Youssef and Mais Katt, Rozana

An undercovered aspect of wars is how they destroy the landscape of countries, from uprooting trees and destroying irrigation systems to polluting the soil with heavy metals from weapons.

Blogs & Opinion

In the last two weeks, 5 blogs & opinion pieces on environmental peacebuilding were posted on our website.

Climate Security at USAID: (Re)defining an Integrative Issue

August 30, 2022 | Daniel Abrahams and Allison Brown

Climate security is an essential conceptual framework to understand the global interplay of biophysical and socioeconomic forces that threaten our planet.

Climate, Peace and Security and the Need for a Coordinated Approach

August 29, 2022 | Frederic Gateretse-Ngoga

In the African continent, where both slow and fast onset climate events undermine economic and political stability, the linkage between climate change and conflict is no longer debatable.

Leveraging Hydropower for Peace

August 24, 2022 | Emilie Broek and Kyungmee Kim

Hydropower is the largest source of low-carbon electricity in the world today. And its benefits are needed more than ever.

How the Russian Invasion of Ukraine May Impact the Arctic

August 22, 2022 | Benjamin J. Sacks and Kristin Van Abel

Seven countries that ring the North Pole recently declared that they would suspend cooperation with Russia at the Arctic Council, which Russia currently chairs, in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia Is Guilty of Ecocide

August 16, 2022 | Michael Long and Michael Lynch

When Russia invaded Ukraine, it created not only a refugee crisis and social devastation, but also extensive environmental destruction.

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.

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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 Desirée De Haven, Carrie Hanks, Liz Hessami, Pauline Mahe, Teresa Paterson, Diana Quevedo, Rachel Stern, Major Stevens, Rachel Stromsta, Sandrine Le Teno, Diego Toledo, Sarah Xu, Leela Yadav, and Julie Yoon
Edited by Joel Young
Coordinated by Buket Altınçelep and Tori Rickman
Design by Graham Campbell
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