Somalia is trapped in a cycle where climate impacts—droughts, floods, and erratic weather patterns—fuel displacement, poverty, and conflict. With agriculture and pastoralism at the core of its economy, the country is particularly vulnerable to these environmental shocks, which create fertile ground for insurgent groups to exploit the resulting instability.
The United Nations hosted the Summit of the Future earlier this week, which led to a new agreement between member states which acknowledged the shortcomings of the UN’s current role and abilities. The Pact of the Future encourages member states to reaffirm, reestablish, and renew global cooperation—and create new solutions to address today’s escalating polycrises.
Azerbaijan holds the presidency for the upcoming COP29 in November 2024, and it is using that platform to call for all member states to cease any ongoing conflict they are involved in during the two-week conference. The Central Asian country will also host a “peace day” on November 15, and is putting forth a COP29 Climate and Peace Initiative to support vulnerable countries and advance action in the climate and peace nexus.
The Pacific Institute recently updated itsWater Conflict Chronology—a database of water-conflict events that began to take form in the 1980s. The recent updates include the addition of 300 new entries to the database, highlighting the alarming rise of water-related conflicts in the last few years. Despite this overwhelming evidence of a growing trend in water-related conflicts, global attention toward addressing them remains negligible.
It has been over 13 years since a massive 9.0 earthquake near the coastline of Japan in 2011 triggered a tsunami that irreversibly damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Failing cooling systems within the plant led to the melting of its radioactive core reactor, which dripped toxic fallout across the plant and in the larger ecosystem. Since that catastrophe, Japan has been devising ways to responsibly clean the waste in Fukushima—and it might be getting closer to a final answer.
In today’s episode of The Arc, ECSP’s Claire Doyle and Angus Soderberg interview Dr. Benno Fladvad, Junior Professor for Natural Science Peace Research with a focus on Climate and Security at the University of Hamburg. Dr. Fladvad unpacks the potential environmental justice issues that arise as renewable energy deployment across the globe accelerates. Additionally, he also describes the challenges of balancing the demand for rapid decarbonization with equity and justice considerations, drawing on examples from the Saami communities’ experience with green hydrogen and wind development. We also glean Dr. Fladvad’s insights into how energy projects can move beyond ineffective consultation processes toward peacebuilding and justice for marginalized communities. Select quotes from the interview are featured below.
As climate change-induced melting of ice sheets clears new pathways, the fast-melting Arctic now has a new strategic race: icebreakers. Russia covers overhalf of what is defined as “Arctic” territory, and it has the largest number of icebreakers in the region. Russia’s attempt to consolidate and expand has led the US and its NATO allies to redefine their own Arctic security strategy.
In today’s episode of New Security Broadcast, ECSP Director Lauren Risi interviews Ratia Tekenet, a Climate Security Expert with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and a former ECSP staff member. In their conversation, Ratia explores how climate change is intensifying South Sudan’s security challenges, creating an immense humanitarian crisis. She also discusses the efforts of UN agencies, the South Sudanese government, and local communities to build resilience and respond to ongoing climate disasters, as well as the need for greater integration of the humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus. Select quotes from the interview are featured below.