Leaving No One Behind: Climate Action in Contested Spaces (A Path to Ottawa Event)

Mar 25, 2026 | Centre on Armed Groups
online
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The event will present the findings of novel research the Centre on Armed Groups is undertaking on the environmental governance practices of non-state armed groups, their perceptions of climate risk, and what works for delivering adaptation programming in areas under armed group control. The session will showcase empirical insights as a means to explore implications for policymakers and practitioners in the climate and environmental peacebuilding fields.

Please join us for a Path to Ottawa event on March 25, 2026 at 9 am EDT. Please click here to register. 

We will be joined by: 

• Peter Schwartzstein (moderator) is an environmental journalist, researcher, and policy advisor, who focuses on environmental peacebuilding and the conflict-climate nexus. He’s spent more than a decade reporting across more than thirty countries in the Middle East, Africa, and farther afield, mostly for National Geographic. He is a fellow with the Stimson Center's Environmental Security Program, the journalist-in-residence at the Center for Climate and Security, and a TED fellow. He is the author of ‘The Heat and the Fury: On the Frontlines of Climate Violence,’ the first from-the-ground exploration of climate’s contribution to violence.
• Albert Souza Mülli is the Head of Policy at the Centre on Armed Groups. He is a conflict mediation and peacebuilding expert with more than 15 years of experience in research, policy, and programming. Drawing on his experience leading climate security and environmental peacebuilding research and programming in Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Somalia, and South Sudan, Albert is leading the Centre's research on climate action in contested spaces, which is examining how climate hazards are managed in territories controlled by armed groups and how can international actors responsibly engage in these areas without  exacerbating conflict and climate risks.
• Samira Gaid is the founder and director of Balqiis Insights, a Somalia-based think tank dedicated to advancing peace and security in the Horn of Africa. Samira has over a decade of experience in regional security analysis, peacebuilding, and governance in the Horn of Africa and has deep expertise on conflict dynamics in Somalia. In collaboration with the Centre on Armed Groups, Balqiis Insights led research in Somalia to explore how climate risks and impacts intersect with armed group governance in South-Central Somalia.
• A Yemen Expert with more than a decade of experience in humanitarian and protection programming as well as research on climate issues in Yemen. The expert led research on climate change and armed groups in Yemen, working in collaboration with the Centre on Armed Groups.