Issue #47 – Oct 27, 2015

Events

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

Conference on Water Security 2015

December 9, 2015 - 2015-12-11 REACH Program, University of Oxford
Oxford, United Kingdom

Water security has rapidly emerged as a defining global and local challenge to promote economic growth, human development and resource sustainability.

Climate Security and the 4Ds of Foreign Policy

November 18, 2015 Security & Sustainability Forum
Webinar

Disaster risk reduction, development, diplomacy and defense communities have increasingly identified climate as a risk – and not just in the long term. For example, in the U. S.

Geneva Peace Week

November 16, 2015 - 2015-11-20 Geneva Peacebuilding Platform
Geneva, Switzerland

Geneva Peace Week 2015 is the umbrella for 33 events organized by 41 organizations. All events resulted from a public call for submissions of events to contribute in two programme tracks.

Panel Discussion on the Impact of Armed Conflict on the Environment and Human Health

November 2, 2015 The Irish Society of International Law | Irish Red Cross
Dublin, Ireland

There is a growing acceptance that certain military materials and practices have the potential to cause environmental damage, with the potential to affect civilian health and interfere with post-conflict recovery.

Environmental Peacebuilding: Tools for Conflict Mitigation from the Development Field

October 28, 2015 Conservation International
Arlington, Virginia, USA

Conservation International's Policy Center for Environment and Peace will host a three hour session entitled, "Environmental Peacebuilding: Tools for Conflict Mitigation from the Development Field" on Wednesday, October 28.

Library

In the last two weeks, 24 new publications were added to our online library of materials on environmental peacebuilding. Here is a sampling of the new additions:

Gold, Oil and the Lure of Violence: The Private Sector and Post-Conflict Risks in Colombia

January 1, 2015 | Angelika Rettberg
Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre, Clingendael Institute

For the first time in decades Colombia seems to be on course towards a negotiated settlement with its two remaining guerrilla groups, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the National Liberation Army.

Inside Isis Inc: The Journey of a Barrel of Oil [Infographic]

January 1, 2015 | Erika Solomon, Robin Kwong, and Steven Bernard
Financial Times

Isis controls most of Syria’s oil fields and crude is the militant group's biggest single source of revenue.

Facing Famine: Somali Experiences in the Famine of 2011

January 1, 2015 | Daniel Maxwell, Nisar Majid, Jeeyon Janet Kim, Guhad Adan, and Khalif Abdirahman
Feinstein International Center

In 2011–12, Somalia experienced the worst famine of the twenty-first century.

Chains of Abuse: The Global Diamond Supply Chain and the Case of the Central African Republic

January 1, 2015
Amnesty International

The Central African Republic’s (CAR) biggest traders have purchased diamonds worth several million dollars without adequately investigating whether they financed armed groups responsible for summary executions, rape, enforced disappearances and widespread looting.

Decentralization, Institutional Ambiguity, and Mineral Resource Conflict in Mindanao, Philippines

January 1, 2015 | Boris Verbrugge
World Development

Based on an analytical framework that builds on theories of incremental institutional change, this article interrogates the relationship between decentralization and mineral resource conflict in the Philippines.

Escaping the Resource Curse in China

January 1, 2015 | Shixiong Cao, Shurong Li, Hua Ma, and Yutong Sun
AMBIO

Many societies face an income gap between rich regions with access to advanced technology and regions that are rich in natural resources but poorer in technology.

The Art and Science of Benefit Sharing in the Natural Resource Sector

January 1, 2015 | International Finance Corporation
World Bank Group

If developed and managed appropriately, a country’s oil, gas, and mineral resources can make a major contribution to economic development and poverty alleviation.

Winning the Peace in Mesopotamia

January 1, 2015 | Luke J. Schumacher and Joshua Shapiro
Cicero Magazine

Academics, generals, and the intelligence community are generally in agreement concerning the changing character of war: yesterday’s wars were waged over land, today’s for energy, while tomorrow’s will be fought for increasingly-scarce water resources.…

Use of Upgraded Evidence in Cadaster Approaches for Syrian Refugee Return

January 1, 2015 | Jon D. Unruh
World Cadastre Congress

The enormity of the Syrian refugee crisis in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, together with the difficulties of their livelihoods and the burden placed on host countries, highlights the importance of planning now for…

Desperate Guests, Unwilling Hosts: Climate Change-Induced Migration and Farmer-Herder Conflicts in Southwestern Nigeria

January 1, 2015 | Azeez Olaniyan and Ufo Okeke-Uzodike
Conflict Studies Quarterly

Discourses on the relationship between climate change and violent conflict have created two opposing views of the enthusiasts and the skeptics, with the former arguing that there is a strong connection and the…

Conservation and Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo: The Impacts of Warfare, Mining, and Protected Areas on Deforestation

January 1, 2015 | Van Butsic, Mathías Baumann, Anja Shortland, Sarah Walker, and Tobias Kuemmerle
Biological Conservation

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), home of the second largest tropical forest in the world, has experienced 20 years of violent conflict, resulting in the death of over 100,000 combatants and up to…

Land, Indigenous Peoples and Conflict

January 1, 2015 | Alan C. Tidwell and Barry Scott Zellen
Routledge

Land, Indigenous Peoples and Conflict presents an original comparative study of indigenous land and property rights worldwide.

Jade: Myanmar's "Big State Secret"

January 1, 2015
Global Witness

This 12-month investigation reveals an industry far bigger than previously thought, worth up to US$31 billion in 2014 alone.

Tusk Wars: Inside the LRA and the Bloody Business of Ivory

January 1, 2015 | Ledio Cakaj
Enough Project

New field research from the Enough Project shows that the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is weakened to an unprecedented point, counting only 120 armed fighters in its ranks, scattered across three countries in…

Jobs

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

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Chief of Party

October 24, 2015 | Wildlife Conservation Society

WCS is recruiting for a Chief of Party to ensure the oversight, administration, and coordination of activities supported by USAID under the Central Africa Forest Ecosystems Conservation (CAFEC) project of the Central Africa…

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Technical Coordinator

October 24, 2015 | Bureau of the Environment and Development

Descriptif du poste: Installé (-e) à Brazzaville, le (-a) titulaire du poste sera en charge de la Coordination de l’assistance technique tout au long du programme FINFOTROP.

International News

In the last two weeks, 37 international news items on environmental peacebuilding were posted on our website. The following is a sampling:

Myanmar: Civil Society Reps Blast Burma’s Opaque Extractive Industries

June 26, 2015 | Yen Snaing, The Irrawaddy

A group of civil society stakeholders called on the government on Friday to halt all extractive projects in ethnic areas until a ceasefire is brokered between Naypyidaw and ethnic armed groups.

Australia: Australia Military ‘Unprepared’ for Climate Impacts – Experts

June 22, 2015 | Ed King, Responding to Climate Change

Australia’s defence force has “one eye shut” to the impending threat of global warming, say experts in a report released today by the Melbourne-based Centre for Policy Development.

Timor-Leste: Timor Spy Scandal: Former ASIS Officer Facing Prosecution

June 22, 2015 | Tom Allard, Sydney Morning Herald

A former Australian Secret Intelligence Service officer and star witness for East Timor in a bitter dispute with the Abbott government over $40 billion in oil and gas revenue is facing criminal prosecution.

Liberia: Robert Sirleaf Distances Himself from Saga at Oil Firm

June 19, 2015 | Rodney D. Sieh, FrontPageAfrica

Running behind on payments to landlord, fears of bankruptcy and management ineptitude, paints a gloomy picture about the future of Liberia's emerging oil sector agency, the National Oil Company of Liberia.

Liberia: As Southeastern Land Conflict Intensifies, River Gee Hunter Reported Kidnapped

June 17, 2015 | Cholo Brooks, Global News Network Liberia

A 35-year old man in Watuaken, River Gee went on a hunting expedition and has been missing for nearly a week.

Liberia: Who is Responsible for the Meltdown at NOCAL?

June 15, 2015 | Rodney D. Sieh, Front Page Africa

Several communications and confidential documents in possession of FrontPageAfrica, is outlining what many industry observers and insiders at the National Oil Company of Liberia already knew, but were unwilling to speak about publicly:…

Liberia: EU-Liberia Meet over Forest Management Agreement

June 15, 2015 | The New Dawn

EU Ambassador Tina Intelmann says good forest governance and law enforcement are critical to the success of efforts to halt deforestation and forest degradation.

Iraq: U.S. Top Court Rejects Iraq Bid to Revive 'Oil-for-Food' Lawsuit

June 15, 2015 | Lawrence Hurley, Reuters

The U. S.

Timor-Leste: East Timor Drops Australia Spying Case at United Nations Court

June 12, 2015 | ABC News

East Timor has officially dropped its case against Australia before the UN's International Court of Justice (ICJ), after the Government returned sensitive documents relating to a controversial oil and gas treaty.

Liberia: US$120m Investment for Sinoe

June 11, 2015 | The New Dawn

The people of Sinoe County, southeast Liberia are expected to benefit from a US$120 million mining investment by Hamburg International, a foreign company.

Blogs & Opinion

In the last two weeks, 4 blogs & opinion pieces on environmental peacebuilding were posted on our website.

Will the European Endgame on Conflict Minerals Put an End to Financing Rape in the DRC?

October 26, 2015 | Margot Wallström and Denis Mukwege

In the Eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), armed groups and criminal operators terrorize the population.

'Greening' of a Dam Prompts Damning Accusations

October 26, 2015 | Kyaw Phyo Tha

In Burma these days, there are really only two colors that people are talking about: red and green.

Coffee Capsules Boost Business and Living Standards of South Sudanese Farmers

October 21, 2015 | Antonio Pasolini

There’s much more to a cup of coffee than meets the eye - or the nose, for that matter.

Migratory Labor for Extractive Industries Creating “Sons of Soil” Conflict in China

October 14, 2015 | Isabelle Côté

In May 2011, two weeks before I was scheduled to start research in the region, a Mongol herder named Mergen was hit by a mining truck while protecting his pastureland in Xilingol, Inner…

Sharing and Posting Materials

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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 Samantha Bresler, Amy Harlowe, Hilary Henry, Elizabeth Hessami, Natalia Jiménez Galindo, Alex Laplaza, Laura Mitchell, Bardia Rahmani, and Ben Zukowski
Edited by Joel Young
Coordinated by Michael Lerner
Design by Graham Campbell
Managed and edited by Carl Bruch and David Jensen