News

Afghanistan: Afghan Agricultural Exports Could Soar if Access to Overseas Markets Granted

Oct 22, 2016 | Abdul Haleem and Jawed Omid, Xinhua

To boost the sector in the foreign-aid dependent country, the Afghan government has been encouraging Afghan and foreign companies to invest in both agricultural and…

As Ivory Becomes Bigger Issue, Environmental Peacebuilding Gaining Ground at IUCN World Congress

Oct 21, 2016 | Bethany N. Bella

A traditional conservation approach to climate change (e.g., habitat restoration, species protection) has been a primary tenet of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) agenda…

Cambodia: Man Charged with Land Grabbing

Oct 21, 2016 | Khmer Times

A 55-year-old farmer in Pursat province was charged yesterday with allegedly clearing community forest for his own use and encouraging others to do the same.…

DRC: The Policy Analyst Going after War Financing in the Congo

Oct 21, 2016 | Ozy

Holly Dranginis is a 32-year-old senior policy analyst for the Enough Project, an advocacy group dedicated to ending genocide and crimes against humanity. It’s not…

Sudan/South Sudan: Swedish Lundin Petroleum Company Investigated for Crimes in Sudan, South Sudan

Oct 21, 2016 | Sudan Tribune

A Swedish oil company, Lundin Petroleum, which operated in Sudan and the then Southern Sudan’s oil rich Unity state in the past, has been investigated…

Sudan: Lundin Petroleum CEO, Chairman to Be Questioned on Possible Sudan Crimes

Oct 21, 2016 | Reuters

Swedish prosecutors will question the CEO and chairman of Swedish oil firm Lundin Petroleum about possible crimes against international humanitarian law in Sudan, a company…

ECSP Is Seeking Winter/Spring 2017 Interns!

Oct 20, 2016 | Environmental Change & Security Program (Wilson Center)

The Environmental Change and Security Program is seeking interns to write for our award-winning blog, New Security Beat, network with leading experts in the environment, development,…

Iraq: Iraq's Oil Fields Burn as Government Forces Close in on Isil

Oct 20, 2016 | Telegraph

Iraqi special forces charged into the Mosul battle on Thursday with a pre-dawn advance on a nearby town held by the Islamic State group, a…

Liberia: The Growth of a New Palm Oil Frontier

Oct 20, 2016 | Clair MacDougall, Guardian

Open doors, fertile soils, high levels of rainfall and large tracts of uncultivated land made Liberia an obvious choice for palm oil companies, says Golden…

DRC: 'Catastrophic' Decline in Eastern Lowland Gorilla Blamed on Mining for Minerals Used in Mobile Phones

Oct 20, 2016 | Aislinn Laing, Telegraph

The Eastern lowland gorilla, the world's greatest ape, has suffered a "catastrophic decline" in the restive Democratic Republic of Congo, blamed on mining for minerals…

Cauvery Water Dispute “Because of Greed”

Oct 19, 2016 | Shivani Chaturvedi

India’s leading water expert and president of the South Asia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resources Studies, S Janakarajan, wonders why Chennai, a city that receives…

Myanmar: Illegal Myanmar Teak Importation Widespread to EU, Investigation Finds

Oct 19, 2016 | John C. Cannon, Mongabay

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) released allegations Tuesday about what it says is the illegal importation of Burmese teak from Myanmar to the EU. In…

Afghanistan: Large Afghan Pomegranate Crop Threatened by Lack of Markets, Farmers Say

Oct 19, 2016 | Ismail Sameem, Reuters

Farmers in Afghanistan's fertile south harvested a bumper crop of deep red pomegranates this year, but they say barriers to international trade in the landlocked…

China/South China Sea: China Using Ecological Protection to Boost Claims in Disputed Waters

Oct 19, 2016 | Ralph Jennings, Voice of America

China's public order to keep away from a rare, environmentally unique ocean sinkhole in the Paracel Islands signals a new effort to tighten its grip…

Afghanistan: Research Farms Build Foundation for Afghanistan’s Agriculture

Oct 19, 2016 | World Bank

The agricultural engineers at the Urdo Khan Research Farm, one of 10 regional research stations across the country owned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation…

There Are No Shortcuts to Establishing Trust between Extractive Industries Stakeholders

Oct 18, 2016 | Inga Petersen, David Jensen, and Ousmane Deme

The Extractive Industries are an important driver of global economic growth. They can also be a vital catalyst for national socio-economic development, especially in resource-rich…

Myanmar: Jade Producers Hope to Get a Boost from Access to US Market

Oct 18, 2016 | Chan Mya Htwe, Myanmar Times

In terminating economic sanctions against Myanmar on October 7, the executive order signed by US President Barack Obama has opened the way to the resumption…

Afghanistan: Anti-Poppy Drive Remains Superficial in Past 15 Years: Survey

Oct 17, 2016 | Azizullah Hamdard, Pajhwok

A recent survey shows the fight against narcotics and policies in this regard have been only superficial and illusive over the past 15 years. Financed…

District Court Judge Assigned in Conflict Minerals Rule Case

Oct 13, 2016 | Emily Burke, Julia Chen, and Michael Littenberg

This month, the litigation relating to the U.S. SEC’s Conflict Minerals Rule enters its fourth year. The litigation has been quiet for the better part…

Iraq: LIfe under ISIS: Iraqis Choke as Sabotaged Oil Wells Blaze

Oct 13, 2016 | Ben Wedeman and Hamdi Alkhshali, CNN

ISIS militants had set the wells on fire hoping to obscure the view of Iraqi and coalition warplanes, but it didn't stop Iraqi forces from…

Conflict Minerals – In Anticipation of EU's Legislation, Learn from the US

Oct 12, 2016 | Camillo Giovannini and Christopher T. McClure

In the last two decades, there has been an increasing international focus on the so called “conflict minerals” which are mining operations in the Democratic…

Statement to the UN General Assembly First Committee on the Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflicts (PERAC)

Oct 12, 2016 | Jessica Dorsey

As armed conflict affects the environment, and vice versa, this forms a vicious cycle in which civilians all too often bear the brunt, including those…

How We Saved Climate-Smart Seeds from the Conflict in Syria

Oct 12, 2016 | Mahmoud Solh

Since war broke out in Syria, 11 million people have fled their homes. In 2012, the turmoil reached the doorstep of ICARDA Agricultural Research Station…

Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq's Kurds: Oil Rich, Still Poor - Drilling Down into the KRG's Oil Economy

Oct 12, 2016 | Erin Banco, IRIN

As global oil prices dropped off, KRG’s oil-dependent economy was hard-hit. Then, after taking Ramadi and Fallujah, IS focused its efforts north and began to…

Colombia: Plan Colombia Casts Shadow on Indigenous Rights as Peace Nears

Oct 12, 2016 | teleSUR

Marginalized Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities in Colombia have been among the most battered by more than five decades of internal armed conflict between the military,…

Liberia: Concessions Violate Women’s Rights

Oct 12, 2016 | Daily Observer

A research report released in Monrovia over the weekend by Natural Resources Women’s Platform (NRWP), the Alliance for Rural Democracy (ARD), and Green Advocates International…

The Human Cost of War’s Environmental Impact

Oct 11, 2016 | Wim Zwijnenburg

The environmental damage caused by wars and conflicts, and more importantly what can be done to limit the impact of conflict-related environmental damage on civilians,…

Myanmar: Farmers Remain Camped on Military’s Disputed Land

Oct 11, 2016 | Si Thu Lwin, Myanmar Times

More than two dozen residents of a village tract purportedly owned by the military have dug their heels in. But after nine months through the…

Colombia: Legal Threats, Not War, Top Commodity Producers' Concerns in Colombia

Oct 11, 2016 | Julia Symmes Cobb and Nelson Bocanegra, Reuters

Gold mining companies have invested hundreds of millions of dollars but not extracted a gram. Palm farmers are told their land belongs to someone else.…

Afghanistan: Afghan Women to Be Given 'Fair Share' in Property Rights Drive - Land Authority

Oct 11, 2016 | Zabihullah Noori, Reuters

Afghan women should benefit from a project to issue property titles to homeowners in Kabul, where more than two-thirds of the houses have no formal…