Blogs & Opinions

DRC: Saving Congo’s Forests Means Changing ‘Law Enforcement’

Dec 22, 2022 | Judith Verweijen

The Congo Basin rainforests, the world’s second largest, form the planet’s single greatest “carbon sink,” absorbing the atmospheric carbon dioxide that is overheating our planet.…

Gender, Climate and Finance: How Financing Female-Led Businesses can Lead the Way to a Net-Zero Future for People and the Planet

Dec 21, 2022 | Joana Pedro, Cassandra Devine, and Marie Wallner

In the third and final blog post in our series on Gender, Climate and Finance, we shift our focus to financial institutions that are leading the way…

Women-Focused Investments are Crucial for Community Adaptation

Dec 20, 2022 | Asian Development Bank

At an event during Cop27, speakers highlighted the important role women and girls play as agents of change in community adaptation.

Specifically, emphasis was placed on recognising,…

Will Iraq Finally Start to Use Its Natural Gas Reserves?

Dec 20, 2022 | Simon Watkins

It has long been a point of extreme contention with the US that Iraq continues to rely on neighbouring – sanctioned – Iran for around…

UN Philippines Peace-Building Program Scores Gains in Bangsamoro Region

Dec 19, 2022 | Manila Bulletin

A United Nations (UN) Philippines peacebuilding joint program in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) marked its completion with results that have significantly…

African and Indigenous Women Voices Essential for Climate Action

Dec 16, 2022 | Radia Mbengue and Chantal Bilulu

The climate crisis is caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels. Yet some of the key culprits — oil and gas — were glaringly…

Water, Peace, & Security: New Tools for a New Climate

Dec 16, 2022 | Claire Doyle

Water sustains life on our planet. And access to clean and safe water is foundational to society. So why has it only been in recent…

COP15 Women Key Roles in Conservation Need to be Recognizes

Dec 14, 2022 | Pressenza

Tuesday, representatives from different organizations shared their insights on gender equality in biodiversity policy at the COP15 in Montreal. 

According to Archana Soreng (India) member of the…

It’s Time for Climate Change to Reach the International Court of Justice

Dec 14, 2022 | Douglas Kysar

For several decades, powerful governments and corporations have possessed detailed knowledge regarding the catastrophic risks posed by human-caused climate change. Yet, during those same decades, many holders of public…

Warfare and Global Warming

Dec 14, 2022 | Scott Moore

The human toll of war is reason enough alone to avoid it at almost any cost. But warfare’s impact on global warming raises a number…

Environmentalism for Sovereignty’s Sake

Dec 12, 2022 | Peter Schwartzstein

Egypt’s Gebel Elba National Park is, by all accounts, a spectacular place. But it better be to justify the fuss it takes to visit. First…

It's Complicated: Lessons for GBV Prevention in WASH Programs

Dec 9, 2022 | Olivia R. Tisa, Sarajane Renfroe, and Lorraine R. Kudayah-D'Almeida

Many women and girls, persons with disabilities, and ethnic and religious minorities experience challenges in accessing safe and clean water and sanitation, sometimes placing them…

Climate Change Worsens Gender-Based Violence: Here’s How the WPS Agenda Can Help

Dec 8, 2022 | Jenaina Irani

Climate change is a growing threat to progress, peace, security, and human rights. The negative impacts of climate change often have gendered impacts and are…

States Adopt New Legal Framework on the Environmental Impact of War

Dec 8, 2022 | Conflict and Environment Observatory

The new legal principles on the Protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts (PERAC) have been developed by the UN’s International Law Commission,…

Intelligence Agency’s 1981 Assessment of Climate-Change Threat Was Remarkably Accurate

Dec 8, 2022 | William Leben

Australia’s national intelligence agency has released a report that ‘examines the implications of the increasing accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as a result…

CARE’s COP27 Response: One Step Forward, but Many More Needed

Dec 6, 2022 | Marlene Achoki, CARE

We are disappointed to say that while COP27 made some progress recognizing the importance of gender justice, attendees ultimately took no collective action. Two weeks of…

Why We Need More Women at COPs

Dec 6, 2022 | Hellen Shikanda

Two women steered the historic negotiations that led to a funding mechanism under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for Loss and…

Climate Change and Ecological Security

Dec 5, 2022 | Matt McDonald

As climate change is increasingly recognized as a security issue, a parallel understanding is also developing. Traditional categories and approaches may not be the optimal…

The Age of Intersecting Crises?

Dec 5, 2022 | Tobias Ide

While climate change is arguably the most important challenge of our time, headlines were frequently dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of the…

Indigenous Women in STEM Are in a Unique Position to Stop Climate Change

Dec 5, 2022 | Leticia Tituana

In Kichwa, an indigenous language spoken in parts of Ecuador, Pachamama (“Mother Earth”) is a unique word that represents the harmonious bond between nature and the indigenous…

Media and Climate Security: Mutual Miscomprehension?

Dec 1, 2022 | Peter Schwartzstein

There’s a scene near the climax of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express when Hercule Poirot starts to plot out the possible murderers. There’s…

Four Takeaways from the COP27 Climate Conference

Nov 29, 2022 | Tegan Blaine

The progress at COP27 — as well as the lack of it on some fronts — begs the question of how the global community can…

Environmental Peacebuilding Must Pay More Attention to Armed Groups

Nov 29, 2022 | Judith Verweijen

Environmental peacebuilding is a rapidly grow field of research and practice. It examines how addressing conflicts over natural resources and improving resource governance can serve…

Green Jobs for Women Can Combat the Climate Crisis and Boost Equality

Nov 29, 2022 | Franziska Deinninger and Ana Gren

Delegates returned home from COP27 with long to-do lists and a formidable challenge: how to accelerate development that doesn’t rely on fossil fuels and creates…

Fishing for Equity and Inclusion: Women’s Socioeconomic Factors in Kenyan Fisheries

Nov 29, 2022 | Margaret Gatonye

Seeing Loreta sort and dry her Omena sardines at the shores of Lake Victoria in Western Kenya, one may dismiss this small, middle-aged woman as…

The Case for Integrating Sustaining Peace into an Expanded Climate, Peace and Security Concept

Nov 23, 2022 | Cedric de Coning and Hafsa M. Maalim

One of the key themes that emerged from the just concluded COP27 is the recognition that climate change does not only exacerbate the causes and…

One Earth, One Security Space: From the 1972 Stockholm Conference to Stockholm+50 and Beyond

Nov 22, 2022 | David Michel

The 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment marked a watershed in world environmental politics. Gathered in Stockholm, Sweden, the international community collectively recognized…

How to Avoid a New Cold War over Critical Minerals

Nov 22, 2022 | Cullen Hendrix

Will the 21st century be the century of the green great game? In the early 20th century, then-First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill oversaw…

Water Shortages Cause Conflicts across Africa

Nov 22, 2022 | Robin Scher

Water is a finite resource on our planet. We can only rely on what we have, which translates to about 2.5% of drinkable fresh water.…

Women Underrepresented at COP27 Summit

Nov 18, 2022 | Caroline Kapp

Advocates have expressed concern that women are underrepresented at the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference—or COP27—in Egypt this month. In 2011, countries pledged to increase…