Blogs & Opinions

How Water Scarcity Is Forging a New Era of Conflict

Nov 19, 2025 | Rao Farman Ali

The water crisis in Tehran, compelling Iranian authorities to warn about water rationing and evacuation of the country’s capital, may sound dystopian.  

DRC: M23, Minerals, and Geopolitics in Eastern DRC

Nov 12, 2025 | Vedant Shinde
Geopolitical Monitor

The Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is experiencing one of the most severe security and humanitarian crises of the 21st century. The renewal…

From Readiness to Resilience: Strengthening Institutions for Climate Action

Nov 12, 2025 | Stephanie Speck

In many fragile contexts, ministries of environment or climate change may have limited resources, yet they are often deeply embedded in national coordination efforts. They…

Innovative Approaches to Climate, Peace and Security: Opportunities for India–Germany–Australia Collaboration

Nov 12, 2025 | Ambika Vishwanath and Treesa Shaju

Emerging research on the nexus between climate, peace and security (CPS) supports the integration of climate adaptation and mitigation methods to advance sustainable peace.  While…

COP30: What to Expect on Conflict, Climate and Militarism

Nov 10, 2025 | Ellie Kinney

COP30 is taking place against a backdrop of armed conflicts and rising military spending. With wars affecting every corner of the globe and spending at…

Water as a Way towards Middle East Peace

Nov 10, 2025 | Gideon Bromberg

In a region shaped by conflict and division, EcoPeace Middle East offers a compelling alternative: cooperation through environmental diplomacy. For over three decades, this Israeli-Palestinian-Jordanian…

No Peace at COP30? Why That’s a Risk the World Can’t Afford 

Nov 10, 2025 | Nazanine Moshiri

As COP30 in Belém nears, leaders are calling it the “implementation summit”. Trillions of dollars in climate funding are at stake in Brazil in mid-November.…

The Blockchain Solution for the World’s Most Problematic Minerals

Nov 7, 2025 | Andrew Kaminsky

Minerals change hands many times as they move from mine to smelter to manufacturer. By the time they reach the company that makes auto parts,…

New Data Reveals the Military Emissions Gap Is Growing Wider

Nov 6, 2025 | Grace Alexander

For global emission stocktakes to accurately reflect the true state of the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) output, all sources must be counted. Yet military emissions…

Militarisation and the Climate Crisis in South Asia

Nov 5, 2025 | Usman Zulfiqar Ali

Countries in South Asia are being hard hit by the climate crisis. In this guest post, Usman Ali examines how Pakistan and India’s security choices…

Law, War, and Warming: The New Frontiers of Climate Security

Oct 31, 2025 | Ibukun Taiwo

As 2025 draws to a close, the climate-security agenda feels less like a niche debate, growing sharper, more complex, and perhaps for the first time,…

South Sudan Should Make Communities the Primary Custodians of Wildlife for Best Results

Oct 30, 2025 | Leek Daniel

The effectiveness of community-based conservation (CBC) compared to government-led efforts in wildlife protection is a nuanced topic, with both approaches exhibiting strengths and weaknesses. While…

Climate Insecurity Comes for Europe

Oct 30, 2025 | Peter Schwartzstein

When we look at climate-related insecurity, it’s usually in the context of poorer parts of the planet. And there’s generally good reason for that focus.…

Climate Change as A Threat Multiplier: First Admiral Salim’s Wake-up Call for Maritime Security

Oct 29, 2025 | Aritra Banerjee

At the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD) 2025 in New Delhi, First Admiral Salim, TNI, Head of the Centre for Maritime Studies at the Indonesian Naval…

Bridging Science and Storytelling: How CGIAR’s Climate Security Research Is Reaching Wider Audiences

Oct 28, 2025 | Ibukun Taiwo

In 2025, CGIAR researchers made a deliberate shift from publishing findings about people to communicating with them. Through partnerships with journalists, filmmakers, and broadcasters, CGIAR worked to…

Can Environmental Diplomacy Build Peace in the Middle East?

Oct 27, 2025 | David Lehrer

The Israel-Palestine conflict has brought immense pain and suffering to the peoples of both nations. Violence between Israelis and Palestinians has created intense anger and…

Farmer–Herder Conflicts in Nigeria: Lessons from America’s Range War, by Junaidu Maina

Oct 27, 2025 | 21st Century Chronicle

Think farmer–herder clashes are uniquely Nigerian? Think again. Long before Fulani herders crossed sorghum and yamfields, American cattlemen were squaring off with wheat and potato…

Russia Abandons a Treaty: Environmental Protection during Armed Conflict

Oct 17, 2025 | Kelvin S-H Peh

While it may be surprising to hear that wetland ecosystems have become a casualty of war, is it not inevitable when their care is politicised?…

How ‘Conflict-Free’ Minerals Are Used in the Waging of Modern Wars

Oct 17, 2025 | Mark Griffiths and Mohamed El-Shewy

Minerals such as cobalt, copper, lithium, tantalum, tin and tungsten, which are all abundant in central Africa, are essential to the comforts of everyday life.…

Including Peace in Conservation – Conflict Sensitivity at The World Conservation Congress and Lessons from South Sudan

Oct 15, 2025 | Natalia Chan

The world’s top nature conservation experts, leaders, and decision makers have been gathering in Abu Dhabi for the World Conservation Congress, bringing together the membership…

Will Rare Earths Cause the Next War (or What Is Common in China vs US, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Africa)?

Oct 13, 2025 | Vinod Janardhanan

The global race for rare earth minerals is igniting geopolitical tensions that could lead to real wars. The tussles and tariff wars between China and…

Farming for Peace: SDG 2 in Colombia

Oct 13, 2025 | Mia Keen

SDG 2 is a development goal set by the UN to create a “world free of hunger by 2030.” Global food insecurity has been increasing…

Resource Diplomacy: Africa’s Critical Mineral Crossroads

Oct 13, 2025 | James Boafo, Rochelle Spencer, and Senyo Dotsey

Critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, rare earth elements, and platinum group metals are essential for modern technologies. They underpin industries ranging from…

Explainer: Why Gender Matters in Disaster Risk Reduction

Oct 13, 2025 | UN Women Europe and Central Asia
UN Women

Disasters are happening more often, costing more, and affecting more lives than ever before. Disaster risk reduction (DRR) is not just reacting when a crisis…

Can Colombia Embrace Clean Energy without Damaging the Amazon?

Oct 13, 2025 | Christina Noriega

At the foot of the Andes, a Canadian firm has plans for one of the country’s biggest copper mines, but many say the carbon-rich forests…

Resource Curse: Why Capitalizing on the Resources Is Actually the Exception?

Oct 13, 2025 | Nadhem Mahmoudi

This phenomenon refers to the paradox of countries with vast natural or mineral resources who fail to translate those resources into economic prosperity. The resource…

The Violence of Hunger: The 2025 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report

Oct 3, 2025 | Eugene Cho

This summer, the 2025 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report gave us the most current look at hunger across the globe. The…

Applying a National Security Lens to the International Court’s Climate Change Opinion

Oct 2, 2025 | Danielle Ireland-Piper

Climate change is widely recognised as a national security risk. Successive defence planning strategies have identified climate change as such. For example, the 2023 Defence…

Pills and Pollution: Captagon Production in Syria

Oct 1, 2025 | Leon Moreland

Captagon is the street name for fenethylline, a synthetic stimulant created by chemically bonding amphetamine, a powerful central nervous system stimulant, with theophylline, a drug…

The Nexus of Conflict, Mining, and Violence in Eastern DRC

Sep 30, 2025 | Ashley Nunes

After decades of bloodshed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, President Félix Tshisekedi recently demanded the country’s parliament and the international community recognize the…