On February 1-4 2022, The Environmental Peacebuilding Association (EnPAx) and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) will be organizing the second International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding, which

Report launch event 'Climate Security in the Bay of Bengal' on 15 February (11.00 - 12.30 CET; 15.30 - 17.00 IST). Register here.   

The Bay of Bengal (BoB) region is emerging as an important focal point for climate security risks. This is largely due to a multi-layered interplay of geopolitical, geostrategic, and climate-related regional dynamics. It forms the final leg between West and East Asia. It is 2.173 million sq km large; accounts for approximately 4.7% of the global economy; and a quarter of the world’s population lives along its coastline. At the catchment of a critical global chokepoint—the Malacca Strait—the BoB is an important sub-region in the international connectivity discourse

The climate in the Middle East and North Africa is warming up twice as fast as the average global temperature rise, but in Iraq, this is happening two to seven times faster.

Solomon Islands is presently in the middle of civil unrest. Violence erupted over concerns that the government is increasingly operating under the unwarranted political influence of China. The impacts of climate change can be considered an underlying driver of the tensions. Shifting weather patterns, reduced fishing grounds and the threat of sea-level rise place considerable strain on island populations.

The first-ever resolution calling for stepped-up international efforts to understand and respond to the implications of climate change for peace and security was vetoed by Russia on Monday, 14 December. The resolution calls on UN Secretary-General António Guterres to deliver a report on the security implications of climate change for the regions and countries on the Council’s agenda by December 2023. It also asks UN peacekeeping and political missions to pay attention to climate-related risks in their areas of operation.

The Planetary Security Initiative (PSI) interviewed Carolina who advises the Colombian military on security-related environmental topics. In this interview, she suggests that a holistic, cross-department approach is the only way for Colombia to address environmental security issues.

The UN Security Council is set to vote on a resolution calling for stepped-up international efforts to understand and respond to the implications of climate change for peace and security. Ireland and Niger, two elected members of the body, put the draft “in blue” – meaning the text is in near-final form – late on 6 December. On 9 December, Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum will preside over a Council session on climate change and terrorism. A vote on the draft resolution could come as soon as 10 December, or early next week.

In November 2021 at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), world leaders raised promising perspectives and outcomes on how to move on with accelerating the world’s response to climate change. Yet, one topic that has been overlooked is the impact of climate change on security. But how is climate change threatening our security?

With rising human demand, the availability of biological resources such cropland, pastures, fishing grounds and forests is limiting prospects for sustainable peace and development more than ever before. Humanity’s use of these resources exceeds what our planet regenerates — its biocapacity — by at least 73 per cent.The effects of this ecological overshoot are visible in climate change, groundwater depletion, soil erosion, fisheries collapse, deforestation and other planetary boundaries.