Blogs & Opinions

Proposed Sale of Timber from Palm Oil Concession Sparks Alarm in Liberia

Sep 21, 2016 | Jeremy Hance

In July, news leaked out that Liberia’s Forestry Development Authority (FDA) was considering a new regulation to allow timber logged from palm oil and other plantations to…

Myanmar: The Next Great Land Tenure Reform?

Sep 20, 2016 | Roy Prosterman

Since World War II, there have been five great Asian development success stories founded upon land tenure reforms that allocated land ownership, or equivalent long-term…

Major Water Disputes Are Often beyond War and Peace

Sep 19, 2016 | Filippo Menga and The London Water Research Group

Early this June, the Israeli government cut off drinking water to people living in the Salfit region of the West Bank and three villages east of Nablus.…

Forests in Colombia Fall Victim to Illegal Coca Plantations

Sep 16, 2016 | María Lourdes Zimmermann

The illicit cultivation of coca leaf in Colombia grew by 39 percent between 2014 and 2015, from 69,000 to 96,000 hectares. According to the United Nations…

America the Plunderer

Sep 16, 2016 | Timothy Egan

As with everything in Trump’s world, his solution is simple: loot and pilfer. “Take the oil,” said Trump. He was referring to Iraq, post-invasion. And…

Can International Cooperation Revitalize Wetlands on Afghanistan-Iran Border?

Sep 15, 2016 | Fatemeh Aman

Efforts to revive the Hamoun wetlands on the Iran-Afghanistan border are intensifying. A recent panel at the Atlantic Council described international involvement as vital both to…

China, the Underdog Now, Will Work with Vietnam on Sea Dispute

Sep 14, 2016 | Ralph Jennings

Senior officials from China and Vietnam, never friends and even less so over the past two years, vowed this week to work more together – substantially…

Trump’s ‘Take Iraq’s Oil’ Isn’t a New Idea. Here’s Why It Won’t Work.

Sep 13, 2016 | Emily Meierding

During NBC’s Commander-in-Chief Forum last week, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump proposed an unusual policy for dealing with Iraq: “Take the oil.” When host Matt Lauer asked…

Intel Ad Campaign Highlights Importance of Supply Chain Responsibility

Sep 9, 2016 | Lewis Golove

The past two decades in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been characterized by civil war and mass atrocity, the staging ground of “Africa’s…

Water Wars: Series of Summits Highlights Persistent Divisions in the South China Sea

Sep 9, 2016 | Chris Mirasola

Staircase snubs notwithstanding, world leaders traded familiar talking points at this year’s G-20 Summit in Hangzhou, China. President Barack Obama stated that China should “abide by international law” and warned…

Afghanistan: Mineral-Rich, Conflict Torn Electronics Treasure Trove

Sep 6, 2016 | Jennifer Baljko

Besides oil, gas, and minerals such as as gold, copper and tantalum, a 2010, New York Times article cited an internal Pentagon memo stating that Afghanistan was…

Report Highlights Health and Environmental Impact of Makeshift Oil Refineries in Syria

Sep 5, 2016 | Doug Weir

Many Syrian civilians have begun refining oil due to the drastic decline in production by professional oil refineries in Syria. The conditions in these makeshift…

Climate Change, Arctic Security, and Methane Risks

Sep 5, 2016 | Chad Briggs

Over the past year, the climate risks of methane (CH4) released from natural sources have attracted increasing media attention in scientific and media forums as…

This Precious Resource Leads to Most Wars and Armed Conflicts and Things Are Only Getting Worse

Sep 5, 2016 | Benedict Brook

Armed conflicts are usually seen as falling into one of very few categories; capturing territory, a political ideology attempting to dominate another or, simply, for…

RGS Annual Conference 2016

Sep 4, 2016 | Becca Farnum

The RGS Annual Conference 2016 took place this week at the Royal Geographical Society and included a session on "Environmental Peacebuilding: The Peace-Environment-Conflict Nexus (2): Nature…

In Myanmar, Nature Can Help Communities Face Climate Challenges

Sep 3, 2016 | Ryan Barlett

The impacts of climate change are becoming an ever starker reality around the world, with 2016 on pace to be the hottest year in human history -…

In Kosovo, Post-War Water Faults Show Challenge of Balancing Political with Technical

Sep 1, 2016 | Florian Krampe

Rivers have shaped the Western Balkan Peninsula’s characteristic landscape and played an important role in its history. Following the violence of the Yugoslav secession wars…

In Kosovo, Post-War Water Faults Show Challenge of Balancing Political with Technical

Sep 1, 2016 | Florian Krampe

Rivers have shaped the Western Balkan Peninsula’s characteristic landscape and played an important role in its history. Following the violence of the Yugoslav secession wars…

Liberia’s Land Law Could Protect Forests, People and the Climate

Aug 31, 2016 | Gaurav Madan

Depending on the season, the journey to Rivercess County requires either bumping along dirt paths or navigating endless stretches of mud. In the heart of…

UN Lawyers Present Revised Post-Conflict Environmental Protection Principles

Aug 31, 2016 | Doug Weir

What should parties to a conflict and international organisations do to help protect the environment and those who depend on it from the effects of…

Liberia Must Learn to Honor the Rights of Rural Residents to Manage Their Own Land

Aug 29, 2016 | Alioune Tine

Liberia, the first African country to declare itself a republic and one of three African nations to take part in the establishment and adoption of…

Displacement and Environment in Africa: What is the Relationship?

Aug 29, 2016 | UNEP

Droughts combined with population growth, a lack of sustainable land and water management, natural disasters, political conflicts and tensions and other factors have resulted in…

After Conflict, Peacebuilding and Recovery Efforts Too Often Miss the Environment

Aug 29, 2016 | Tim Kovach and Ken Conca

In June 2010, The New York Times published a front page story trumpeting a Pentagon announcement of roughly $1 trillion worth of mineral resources in Afghanistan. Officials said…

How Lapis Lazuli Turned One Afghan Mining District to the Taliban

Aug 25, 2016 | Adrienne Bober

In the mountains of northern Afghanistan, between Pakistan and China, a region that has historically rejected the Taliban has become the group’s second-largest source of revenue.…

Little Talked About, This Issue Can Choke Colombia’s Peace Deal Down The Line

Aug 25, 2016 | José E. Mosquera

Decades of civil conflict and the formation of the communist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) could be attributed in part to the struggle for land in…

Calming the Waters: Why We Need to Better Integrate Climate and Water Policy

Aug 23, 2016 | Sabine Blumstein

The Nile River is shared by 11 countries, for which it is vital for food and energy production, freshwater, and as a means of transportation.…

Hope for Resolving the Water Conflict in the Middle East

Aug 22, 2016 | Marwa Osman

The severity of the water issue in the Middle East is a key strategic issue in understanding future security decisions within the region. Nations in…

Rivers of Conflict Between India and Pakistan

Aug 19, 2016 | Brahma Chellaney

Just as the Philippines hauled China before an international arbitral tribunal in The Hague over Beijing's expansive claims in the South China Sea, Pakistan recently…

Every Humanitarian is an Environmentalist

Aug 19, 2016 | Erik Solheim

More than 130 million people worldwide need humanitarian assistance to survive. Some are caught in conflict. Some are caught in disasters beyond human control. Others…

From Machetes to Maps: How a ‘Red Line’ Eased Conflict in Bolivia’s Amazon

Aug 19, 2016 | Candido Pastor

Over the past 30 years, Bolivia has tried to protect its valuable forests from agricultural clear-cutting by establishing a protected area system that covers more than 16…