Blogs & Opinions

Bridging the Conflict Gap in Climate Action and Finance

Jul 16, 2026 | ODI Global

Many of the world’s most climate-vulnerable people live in place affected by armed conflict, violence, and fragility. Yet fragile and conflict-affected countries receive just 10%…

The Abyei Dispute: Why South Sudan Is on the Right Side of History

Jul 16, 2026 | Amaju Ubur Yalamoi Ayani

First and foremost, the unresolved status of the Abyei Area stands as a stark indictment of failed diplomatic processes and an enduring obstacle to lasting…

South Sudan’s Oil Is Flowing, but Who Really Gets Paid?

Jul 16, 2026 | Warille B. Warille

A recent partial settlement between the Government of South Sudan and commodities trader BB Energy has eased restrictions imposed by the London High Court, which…

Minerals at the Negotiating Table: Resource Politics and Peace in Eastern DRC

Jul 15, 2026 | Julian Neef

The United States brokered a strategic partnership deal with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in December 2025, co-signing a DRC–Rwanda peace agreement on the…

How EU Regulations Are Changing 3TG Conflict Minerals Compliance

Jul 13, 2026 | Z2

Since the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation (EU Regulation 2017/821) took full effect in 2021, importers of tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold have operated under a…

WISEN: A Tool for Post-War Environmental Accountability?

Jul 13, 2026 | Lydia Millar

CEOBS’ new Wartime Incidents to Environment Database (WISEN) is a tool for systematically identifying and mapping the environmental harm caused by armed conflicts. In this…

Should the World Adopt a Law to Recognise Ecocide as a Global Crime?

Jul 10, 2026 | Shyam Saran

It was an American scientist, Arthur Galston, who coined the word “ecocide” in 1970 to describe the catastrophic effects from the indiscriminate use of the…

Thawing Foundations: Permafrost and the Future of Arctic Defence

Jul 10, 2026 | Joshua Kelly

Canada’s Arctic security debate mostly focuses on the visible signs of geopolitical change. While Russian military activity, Chinese interest in polar routes, and NORAD modernization…

How the Iran War Worsens the Climate Crisis

Jul 10, 2026 | Sarah Yerkes and Alejandro Martin Rodriguez

Fears of a reignited conflict are rising, even as the true cost of war is only beginning to be tallied. Alongside the thousands of deaths,…

What We Are Learning about Climate Action in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Places

Jul 9, 2026 | Mauricio Vazquez

The future of climate resilience in fragile places depends not only on mobilising more finance, but on whether it reaches people through the systems and…

Should NATO Treat Climate Data as Strategic Intelligence?

Jul 9, 2026 | Aanvi Sharma

Climate data is long-term information on environmental conditions, such as temperature trends, sea-level rise, and the frequency of extreme weather events, and it provides predictive…

Conflict, Climate, No Cash: Why Poverty Persists

Jul 7, 2026 | Sarah Steffen

With just under five years left to complete the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, a new report shows what's hampering progress. And what the solutions are.

The Limits of Green Defence: NATO, Climate Security, and Modern Warfare

Jul 2, 2026 | Lou Didelot

Modern military power depends on mobility. NATO’s fighter aircraft, naval fleets, transport systems, and surveillance infrastructure all require enormous amounts of fuel to sustain readiness…

Preventing and Managing Climate-Related Insecurity: Lessons from the Lake Chad Basin Regional Strategy

Jun 29, 2026 | Cedric de Coning, Andrew E. Yaw Tchie, Saibou Issa, Thor Olav Iversen, and Freedom Onuoha

The lives and livelihoods of local communities in the borderlands of the Lake Chad Basin are disrupted by both climate change and conflict, which are mutually…

Beyond the ‘Art of the Deal’: Why the Levant Needs Climate Realism

Jun 28, 2026 | Carmit Lubanov

For decades, international diplomacy in the Middle East has followed two equally flawed tracks. On one side are the utopian dreamers, proposing grand, multi-lateral “environmental…

Colombia’s Next President: A Reckoning for Peace, Climate and Human Rights

Jun 26, 2026 | Inés M. Pousadela

On 21 June Colombians made their choice. By the narrowest of margins, Abelardo de la Espriella, a far-right criminal lawyer who’s never held elected office,…

Food Security Is National Security: A New Imperative for Sustainable Development

Jun 26, 2026 | Michael Werz

The global sustainability agenda is under pressure from many directions simultaneously. Yet one dimension of this crisis remains dramatically underrated: the deliberate weaponization of food,…

Beyond Blue Water: Gray Zone Lessons from Small Island Nations

Jun 26, 2026 | Ahmed Rasheed and Thomas A. Crowson

While conventional wisdom suggests small states facing gray zone maritime pressure require external protection or significant force expansion, systematic examination of Seychelles, Mauritius, and the…

Between Dependency and Diversification: Agrarian Reform in Colombia and the Shift in International Cooperation

Jun 25, 2026 | Carlos Quesada and José Ignacio de la Torre

As US cooperation is drastically reduced, Colombia is opening its doors to China’s market and investment to support agrarian reform. However, the Asian model—focused on…

The Making of an Environmental Peacebuilding Glossary

Jun 25, 2026 | Rachel Weaver, Larry Swatuk, Carl Bruch, Erika Weinthal, and Richard Matthew

In environmental peacebuilding, language does a great deal of heavy lifting. The same term–whether it is resilience, sustainability, or conflict–can carry sharply different meanings depending…

South Sudan: Fifteen Years of Independence, US$70 Billion in Oil Wealth – and GDP Per Capita Cut by Two-Thirds

Jun 25, 2026 | Liam Brown

For years, warning signs have accumulated over the management of South Sudan’s oil revenues. Resources that should have sustained a population enduring one of the…

Between Dependency and Diversification: Agrarian Reform in Colombia and the Shift in International Cooperation

Jun 25, 2026 | Carlos Quesada and José Ignacio de la Torre

As US cooperation is drastically reduced, Colombia is opening its doors to China’s market and investment to support agrarian reform. However, the Asian model—focused on…

Could Nigeria’s Lithium Wealth Be Fueling Violence and Illegal Exploitation?

Jun 24, 2026 | Gloria Fraser

As the world races for critical minerals, Nigeria must ensure that bloodshed and displacement do not become the hidden price of global prosperity. The massacre…

Q&A: Penny Beames on the Global Water Security Center’s Analysis of the ‘Super’ El Niño

Jun 24, 2026 | Anwen Williams

The Global Water Security Center (GWSC) works at the intersection of cutting-edge research, critical data, and global climate security policy. A public service center located at The University of Alabama, they work to…

Behind the Extraction: Why a Just Energy Transition Must Include Kachin State, Myanmar

Jun 24, 2026 | Zung Ting

Rare earth elements and other critical minerals have become indispensable to modern life. They power electric vehicles, wind turbines, advanced electronics, robotics, medical devices, semiconductors,…

Conflict in the Middle East Has ‘Profound Implications’ for Global Food Security

Jun 23, 2026 | Ruth Green

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that the conflict between the US-Israel alliance and Iran has had ‘profound implications’ for food security, particularly…

Water Compliance Is Regional Security

Jun 23, 2026 | Amina Jabbar

The debate around the Indus Waters Treaty is often made to look like a straight legal argument between India and Pakistan. But that feels too…

Environmental Conditions in South Sudan’s Oil-Producing Areas after the 2028 Expiry of Production-Sharing Agreements

Jun 22, 2026 | Giel Thuok Yoach Thidor

Following independence in 2011, the Government of South Sudan assumed the existing Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA) originally established by the Sudanese government with…

Nationwide Reforestation Movement in Afghanistan [Video]

Jun 19, 2026 | WION

Decades of war, timber smuggling, and large-scale deforestation have stripped Afghanistan of much of its once extensive forest cover. Now, a burgeoning reforestation movement is…

What’s at Stake for the Environment in Colombia’s Upcoming Election?

Jun 19, 2026 | Aimee Gabay

Colombia has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030 and has a legally binding net-zero target for 2050. Analysts at the Organization…