Issue #334 – Oct 27, 2026

Announcements

Call for Abstracts — Symposium on Environmental Peacebuilding in Mountain Areas: Bio-cultural Diversity and the Arts of Living on Damaged Slopes

October 13, 2026 | Environmental Peacebuilding Association and Unit for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Innsbruck

The Environmental Peacebuilding Association (EnPAx) and the Unit for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Innsbruck invite abstracts for a three-day symposium on environmental peacebuilding in mountain areas.

Request for Proposals to Host the Sixth International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding

October 12, 2026 | Environmental Peacebuilding Association

The Board of Directors of the Environmental Peacemaking Association® (EnPAx®) invites proposals to host the Sixth International Conferences on Environmental Peacebuilding in 2030.

Library

In the last two weeks, 10 new publications were added to our online library of materials on environmental peacebuilding. Here is a sampling of the new additions:

Militaries and Conflict: Critical Gaps in Climate Action

October 27, 2026
Conflict and Environment Observatory

Analysing how governments address military emissions and conflict impacts in UNFCCC Nationally Determined Contributions: the climate action plans that set out how emissions will be reduced and how countries will adapt to climate…

Protecting the Environment during Armed Conflicts: A Comparative Legal Study between International and Islamic Law - The Case of Gaza

October 27, 2026 | Anas Tarawneh, Farhan Mohammad Alhusban, Razan Khasawneh, Saja Al-Najjar, Shahad Ahmed Fawzi, and Ali Najm Al Abdullah
Social Science Forum Journal

Abstract In this study, the authors explore how the destruction of natural resources has been a central element of the current armed conflict in the Gaza Strip, and how it has been systematic…

Lessons Learned from the Implementation of the Wadi El Ku Catchment Management Project (Phase 2) - Avenues for Climate Security and Environmental Peacebuilding Programming

October 27, 2026
UN Environment Programme

In response to Sudan’s challenges stemming from climate change, conflict and fragility, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the European Union launched phase two of the Wadi El Ku Catchment Management Project (WEK…

Green Recovery of the Black Sea

October 22, 2026
UN Environment Programme and Zoï Environment Network

The Black Sea is a unique, semi-enclosed body of water connected via the Bosphorus Strait, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles to the Mediterranean Sea and on to the Atlantic Ocean.

Fragile against What? Imagining Climate Change Resilience by Unmasking Governance Fragility

October 20, 2026 | Luissa Vahedi and Carmen Logie
Disasters

Since the 1990s, fragility has been used to describe low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with limited ability to respond to external threats in ways that ensure citizen safety, security, and welfare.

Rebels in a Changing Climate: Insurgent Perspectives on Disasters and the Rise or Fall of Rebellion

October 20, 2026 | Tobias Ide, Dahlia Simangan, Debendra Prasad Adhikari, Isabella Romero Ángel, Pablo Andresa Ramos Baron, Dennis F. Quilala, and Bishnu Raj Upreti
Global Environmental Change

The nexus between climate change and armed conflict has received considerable attention by scientists and decision makers. Existing evidence highlights that the impact of climate disasters on insurgencies is not unidirectional.

Why Natures Reserves in Warzones Need Protection Too

October 15, 2026
PAX

Nature reserves in warzones face significant destruction from military activities and wider conflict dynamics.

Towards an Understanding of Socio-Environmental Conflicts over Natural Commons in the Venice Lagoon (Italy)

October 13, 2026 | Federico Tonegatti and Valentino Marini Govigli
Sustainability Science

Socio-environmental conflicts over natural commons represent a growing challenge for sustainability governance, yet their dynamics remain poorly understood within complex Social-Ecological Systems (SESs).

Jobs

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

UK: Research Fellow / Postdoctoral Researcher

October 27, 2026 | SOAS University of London

SOAS University of London is the leading Higher Education institution in Europe specialising in the study of Asia, Africa and the Near and Middle East.

Syria: WASH and Rehabilitation Coordinator (National & Expat)

October 27, 2026 | Acción contra el Hambre España

Acción contra el Hambre España is an international humanitarian organization dedicated to combating the causes and effects of hunger and malnutrition in more than 50 countries, including Spain.

Philippines: DRR Project Manager / Team Leader

October 27, 2026 | Miyamoto International

Miyamoto International is in business to make the world safer.

TChad: Responsable Environnement et Énergies Renouvelables

October 27, 2026 | INTERSOS

INTERSOS est une Organisation Humanitaire Non Gouvernementale, à but non lucratif, qui a l’objectif d’assister les victimes de désastres naturels et de conflits armés.

DRC: Conservation Pilot – Okapi Wildlife Reserve

October 27, 2026 | Wildlife Conservation Society

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a US non-profit organization founded in 1895.

USA: Visiting Research Fellowships

October 27, 2026 | Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies

Each year, the Kroc Institute’s Visiting Research Fellows Program brings outstanding scholars focused on peace research to the University of Notre Dame for a semester or a full academic year.

International News

In the last two weeks, 31 international news items on environmental peacebuilding were posted on our website. The following is a sampling:

Afghanistan/Iran/Pakistan: After Taliban Opium Ban, New Global Hub Emerges in Afghan Borderlands with Iran, Pakistan

October 24, 2026 | Frud Bezhan and Daud Khattak
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Afghanistan's opium output, long the world's largest, has plunged since the Taliban imposed a sweeping ban on illicit narcotics in 2022.

Joint Civil Society Statement on the Environment, Peace and Security Delivered to the UN General Assembly First Committee

October 23, 2026
Conflict and Environment Observatory

Statement drafted by CEOBS and delivered by Melissa Bushi of Pace University.

CAR: NCF Statement to the UN on Conflict Minerals in the Central African Republic

October 22, 2026 | Manisha Shrivastava
Next Century Foundation

Next Century Foundation’s Research Officer Manisha Shrivastava addresses the United Nations Human Rights Council in person on conflict minerals and accountability in the Central African Republic, highlighting how armed groups and security actors…

Climate Change: World-First Taskforce to Protect Communities from Climate Change

October 21, 2026
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Katie White OBE MP, and Baroness Twycross

Communities across the UK will be better protected against the growing threats of climate change, as the world’s first Climate and Nature Security Taskforce met for the first time this week.

Palestine: Gaza Faces Food Security Crisis as Aid Reductions Deepen

October 20, 2026
Global Arab Network Editorial Team

A humanitarian crisis is intensifying in the Gaza Strip as nearly half a million people face the loss of essential food assistance.

Ethiopia: A Look at How Ethiopia’s Wars, Sea Ambitions and Nile Dam Fuel Fears of Wider Conflict

October 19, 2026 | Khaled Kazziha
Associated Press

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for making peace with neighboring Eritrea. A year later, their armies joined forces against Tigrayan fighters in northern Ethiopia.

DRC: War and Minerals: Erik Prince and Paramilitaries in DR Congo

October 16, 2026
Agence France-Presse

US businessman Erik Prince and his mercenaries have emerged as key players in the war-stricken Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), fighting for its government as Washington vies for strategic minerals in the country,…

Iran: Iran’s Pezeshkian Denounces War-Driven ‘Ecocide’ at UN Biodiversity Summit

October 16, 2026
The Climate Watch

Iranian president says countries facing sanctions and military aggression should not bear environmental costs alone, calls for stronger global accountability and protection of nature during conflicts.

Afghanistan/Saudi Arabia: Taliban Invites Saudi Arabia to Explore Renewable Energy Investment in Afghanistan

October 15, 2026
Afghanistan International

The Taliban’s water and energy minister has discussed solar and wind power cooperation with a Saudi energy official.

Sudan: The Triad of Conflict, Drought, and Funding Shortage Pushes Darfur and Kordofan toward Famine

October 13, 2026
JINHAGENCY

The conflict in Sudan erupted in mid-April 2023, leaving behind thousands of dead and wounded and massive destructions of infrastructure, amid an escalating famine and record displacement waaves, threatening the country with a…

DRC: Breaking the War Economy behind the DRC’s Critical Minerals

October 13, 2026 | Gunnar Ivarsson
Organization for World Peace

A critical impasse over natural resources may be imminent in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Further diplomatic efforts could worsen the armed conflict over valuable natural resources.

Colombia: Colombia Seeks to Remove Rural Reform from UN Peace Deal Monitoring

October 12, 2026 | Josep Freixes
ColombiaOne

The implementation of the 2016 Peace Deal signed by the Colombian state and the now-defunct FARC returned to the center of international debate Monday at the United Nations Security Council.

UN Official: Environmental Protection Must Be integral to Post-War Recovery

October 12, 2026
Tehran Times

UN Resident Coordinator in Iran Christine Weigand has stressed the far-reaching and long-term environmental consequences of war, saying environmental protection must be incorporated into both emergency response measures and long-term recovery plans, as…

Blogs & Opinion

In the last two weeks, 11 blogs & opinion pieces on environmental peacebuilding were posted on our website. Here is a sampling:

First Edition of Climate Security Talk: What Can We Control Ourselves in Terms of Critical Raw Materials?

October 22, 2026 | Kevin Rossi and Sina Khoshsima

The first Climate Security Talk at TU Delft | Campus The Hague focused on critical materials, circularity, and Europe's industrial resilience.

Who Holds the Valve? Water, War and the Price of Peace

October 18, 2026 | Kator Ifyalem

Water now sits at the centre of African security politics.

Pezeshkian Calls Environmental Destruction Caused by Regional Wars 'Ecocide'

October 17, 2026 | Middle East Eye

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has called the destruction of ecosystems caused by the "wars of aggression" an act of "ecocide", urging the international community to establish effective and enforceable mechanisms to protect biodiversity…

Nature, Peace and Security at COP17

October 17, 2026 | Doug Weir

The 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) is the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) current plan to halt and reverse the collapse of global biodiversity by 2030.

Food Warfare Is on the Rise as a Conflict Strategy

October 15, 2026 | Down To Earth

Use of food as a weapon, in both Ukraine-Russia and West Asia wars, will only threaten global food security and exacerbate hunger crises.

IUCN WCEL Hosts Expert Discussion on Colombia’s Proposal to Include Environmental Destruction in Crimes against Humanity Convention

October 13, 2026 | IUCN WCEL Environmental Security and Conflict Law Specialist Group

Following Colombia’s landmark proposal to include Environmental Destruction in the forthcoming Convention on Crimes Against Humanity, the IUCN WCEL joined partners in hosting an event to discuss the merits and momentum behind this…

Climate Security: Everyone’s Mandate, Nobody’s Budget

October 12, 2026 | Florian Krampe

At panel discussions and in conversations between attendees at the Berlin Climate and Security Conference, hosted by the German Foreign Office on October 6, 2026, the same questions kept coming up.

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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.

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