After several years of low rainfall followed by a severe drought in 2017-2018, the City of Cape Town municipal government was forced to introduce dramatic measures in order to narrowly avoid the ‘Day Zero’ scenario - almost totally depleted reserves. A new briefing from the Grantham Institute looks at how events arose and how the city managed supply and demand during the crisis, with some important observations on the implications for societal tension and conflict risks of urban water security pressure.

Following the announcement of a ‘roadmap to the UN Climate Summit’ by General Assembly President Maria Espinosa, we present an outline of key dates and events for the climate-security nexus, in what has the potential to be a ‘tipping point’ year for the agenda.

A number of workshops at the Planetary Security Conference 2019 examined the Sahel and specifically Mali, one of its three spotlight regions. ‘From local conflicts to regional solutions’ explored prospects for development and stability in Mopti and created a dialogue between people from central Mali and the international community, while ‘Joint Solutions for Water and Security Risks in Mali’ focussed on climate impacts on the Inner Niger Delta and their interaction with inter-communal conflicts. A special session presented concrete project experiences in Mali and discussed 'Taking action to reduce security risks by enabling better management over natural resources'.