South Sudan’s future – and relief from its cycle of conflict – is linked to its reliance on fossil fuels, with limited but possible options for charting a new course. The world’s newest country gained independence in 2011 amid international fanfare, yet the celebrations were short-lived, with the outbreak of civil war in late 2013 bringing devastating consequences for the population.
Defence has a carbon problem. The strengthening of net-zero emissions targets in response to the deepening climate crisis is forcing militaries to find answers to the question of how to wield force effectively within the constraints of a net-zero world.
2023 could be a good year for advancing climate-related issues in the United Nations Security Council. The two-year terms of elected Council members like India, which have been outspoken opponents of including climate change on the Council’s agenda, have ended, and Brazil’s newly elected government is likely to be a bit more open to discussing some specific impacts of climate change.
Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and its effects are felt by communities worldwide. But for those living in conflict-affected areas, the impact of climate change can be particularly devastating. The combination of rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, and increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events can exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and create new yet unseen ones.
Climate change and water scarcity pose significant challenges to the stability and cohesion of communities in the Lake Turkana region. As fishing and pastoralist communities adapt to the changing environment they find themselves in growing competition for scarce water resources. Violent clashes have been reported for years in Turkana County, Marsabit County, and along the Ethiopian border, on the western, eastern and northern shores of the lake respectively.
On the 14th of December the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) held an online event discussing the current ramifications of a degraded environment and avenues for a post-war scenario that will ensure that the environment is adequately restored.
Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of the present and the future. Rising temperatures and sea levels, as well as extreme weather events are manifestations of climate change that also influence military capabilities. Increased attention for the climate change-security nexus is visible both at the national and the international level: nationally through the incorporation of climate change in security strategies and internationally through incorporation in important strategic documents such as the EU’s Strategic Compass and NATO’s Strategic Concept.
Between the 15th and 17th December, the Institute of Peace and Conflicts Studies and the Planetary Security Initiative of the Clingendael Institute convened a workshop focusing on the climate-security risks in the Bay of Bengal and how to address the growing insecurity at a local, national and regional level.
This October a coalition of EU countries reaffirmed their commitment to an ambitious climate policy that will feature at the heart of EU foreign and security policy, by forming a Group of Friends (GoF). The Gof is comprised of the follow members: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden.
The IPCS taskforce (TF) on climate security in India was convened over 2021-22. It is part of a multi-year project on the security implications of climate change for South Asia, executed in partnership with the Clingendael Institute in the Netherlands. A track 1.5 initiative, the TF comprised Indian academics, climate experts, scholar-activists, technical experts, and security practitioners.
