Blogs & Opinions

Growing Peace, One Coffee Farm at a Time

Jul 24, 2024 | Lauren Petersen-Green

Mayerly’s journey into coffee began when Mercy Corps invited her to attend a meeting about the benefits of substituting coca with legal crops. Mercy Corps…

Ending the Conflict in Ukraine through Land Purchase

Jul 24, 2024 | Glauco Ortolano

Glauco Ortolano explores an implausible proposal for how the war may end through economic rather than political means.

Kellogg Developing Researcher Finds Community, Inspiration, and Hope at the Third International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding

Jul 23, 2024 | Sophia Rockwell

What role does the environment have in current and future conversations about how to promote, create, and maintain international peace through research and government initiatives?…

Could the Nile Dam Dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia Escalate?

Jul 22, 2024 | Amr Emam

Egypt is playing a waiting game as Ethiopia prepares to make the fifth, and final, filling of its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) by the end of…

Why Women Are Key to Managing Afghanistan’s Water Crisis

Jul 22, 2024 | Katrina J. Lane

Afghan women’s livelihoods are the most impacted by water scarcity. Involving them in water policy and resource management could provide sustainable livelihoods and climate resilience…

The Interplay between Conflict and Climate Change Needs a Rethink

Jul 22, 2024 | Mauricio Vazquez

The recent news that Somalia was elected to become a nonpermanent member of the United Nations Security Council has generated headlines. As one of the most…

Ukraine/Russia: Russia's War Threatens Food Security: UK Statement to the OSCE

Jul 19, 2024 | Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and Justin Addison

Justin Addison, UK Delegation to the OSCE, tells the OSCE's Economic and Environmental Committee (EEC) that Russia is prioritising its own aims above global food…

Water and War

Jul 15, 2024 | Morgan Shimabuku

Attacks on water infrastructure and water supplies are not new. Records of water-related conflicts go back 4,000 years to Sumeria, where the neighboring city-states of…

Environmental Cooperation in the Middle East: A Conversation with Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed [Podcast]

Jul 12, 2024 | Environmental Change and Security Program, Wilson Center

In today’s episode of New Security Broadcast, Wilson Center Global Fellow and environmental journalist Anneliese Palmer speaks with longtime leader in regional environmental diplomacy and Executive…

Collective Action for the Environment in Iraq: A New Initiative by PAX

Jul 12, 2024 | PAX International

Today marks the International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms. The UN General Assembly proclaimed this day as these storms have become a serious global…

Advancing Women, Peace, and Security through Security Cooperation in NATO

Jul 12, 2024 | Courtney Clarksen, Tyler McAnally, and Kathleen McInnis

This series—featuring scholars from the Futures Lab, the International Security Program, and across CSIS—explores emerging challenges and opportunities that NATO is likely to confront after…

Afghan Canal Project Affecting Not Only Central Asia but China and Russia Too

Jul 11, 2024 | Paul Goble, Eurasia Daily Monitor

Afghanistan is pushing ahead with the construction of the Qosh Tepa Canal to divert water that has been flowing into neighboring countries to slow the…

Environmental Wartime Protection is Central to the Protection of Civilians

Jul 9, 2024 | Laetitia Courtois

Statement delivered by Laetitia Courtois, Permanent Observer and Head of Delegation, at UN Security Council Arria-Formula Meeting "Stepping up Preventive Action: From Environment Challenges to…

Toward a Peaceful Future: Cooperation and Solutions for East Asia’s International Issues

Jul 8, 2024 | Simon Hutagalung, Eurasia Review

The East Asia region is currently facing numerous international issues that pose threats to both regional stability and global security. These predicaments include the nuclear…

Cross-Cutting Themes and Priorities of the Environmental Compact for the Green Future of Ukraine

Jul 5, 2024 | Andriy Demydenko

In February 2024, the High-Level Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of War, which includes Ukrainian and European officials, signed an Environmental Compact for Ukraine. The…

Taliban’s Approach to Natural Disasters

Jul 3, 2024 | Pupsa Kumari, Mahonar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses

Climate change is one of the most important challenges in the 21st century and has unfavourable consequences, including droughts, floods, storms, decrease in rainfall, landslides,…

Taliban’s Approach to Natural Disasters

Jul 3, 2024 | Puspa Kumari

Climate change is one of the most important challenges in the 21st century and has unfavourable consequences, including droughts, floods, storms, decrease in rainfall, landslides,…

Conflict, Land Dispossession, and the Struggle for Gender Equality in Cameroon

Jul 2, 2024 | Dean Peacock

This interview with Lotsmart Fonjong is part of series of interviews by WILPF to reflect on the original research produced by the Mobilising Men for Feminist Peace…

Not Yet Uhuru: DRC a Victim of Its Immense Mineral Wealth

Jul 2, 2024 | Veronica Mente, The African

On this occasion of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) 64th anniversary of independence from colonisation, it is important to take the opportunity to highlight…

A Roadmap For a Greener, Gender-Inclusive Future

Jul 2, 2024 | Nathalie A. Gabala and Emmanuel Nyirinkindi

Many companies in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) are now prioritizing climate action and advancing gender inclusiveness. However, there are still too few bringing…

Towards a Common Vision of Climate, Peace, Security and Migration in Zimbabwe

Jul 1, 2024 | Giulia Caroli, Cedric De Coning, Gracsious Maviza, Joram Tarusarira, Henintsoa Onivola Minoarivelo, and Nqobile Moyo

Zimbabwe is one of the countries in Southern Africa most affected by climate variability and change. This year, Zimbabwe experienced its worst drought in decades, affecting…

In Cameroon, Breaking Barriers for Women in Restoration

Jun 29, 2024 | Monica Evans & Laurianne Mefan

Restoring land and reducing its degradation is crucial for Cameroon’s sustainable development and long-term resilience. Over 70 percent of the population depend on agriculture for…

Renewable Energy as a Tool for Peace: Emerging Opportunities and New Challenges

Jun 28, 2024 | Energy Peace Partners

Renewable energy can offer a multi-pronged solution that can provide numerous benefits, especially in fragile countries: those most affected by conflict and climate risks, and…

Tackling Gender Disparity in Land Ownership in FCT

Jun 27, 2024 | Emmanuel Chisom

Land is one the most valued properties in the world. It is not for nothing that famous economic scholar, Adam Smith, classified it as one of the…

Health Equity and Gender Equality in a More Violent World

Jun 26, 2024 | Valerie Percival

Violence and instability are rising around the world. Researchers recorded 2022 as the "deadliest year since the Rwandan genocide in 1994" and 2023 as experiencing the highest number of…

How to Advance Peace and Security Through a Climate and Gender Lens? Reflections From Youth at the UN Women’s GEN-Forum 2024

Jun 25, 2024 | Clare Steiner & Khaing Su Lwin

The unfolding triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution in the Asia-Pacific region has critical implications for human security, conflict, and inequality. Climate…

How to Make Locally Led Climate Adaptation Finance More Gender Responsive

Jun 25, 2024 | Ntezi Mbabazi & Rose Pinnington

Northern donors are making efforts to fund local actors more directly and enable greater local leadership, notably within climate adaptation programming aiming to promote gender equality. And…

Barriers to the Engagement of Women in UN Peace Operations

Jun 24, 2024 | Eleanor Gordon

Women’s meaningful participation in peace operations is critical to building sustainable peace. Yet, women continue to be marginalised, especially in senior roles, because of organisational,…

Flowing Together: Peace and Conflict’s Role in Socio-Hydrology

Jun 24, 2024 | Stefan Doring, Kyungmee Kim, and Ashok Swain

In an era where water scarcity and disputes over water rights increasingly shape global politics, understanding the nexus between water and peace is more critical…

Wars Cause Widespread Pollution and Environmental Damage − Here’s How to Address It in Peace Accords

Jun 23, 2024 | Richard Marcantonio and Josefina Echavarria Alvarez

Few agreements include environmental provisions, and even fewer see them carried out, even though research shows that many drivers of conflict can be directly or…