Climate change and its security implications are placing considerable pressures on peacebuilding efforts in Somalia. The country is currently experiencing its worst drought in over four decades, with an unprecedented fourth consecutive failed rainy season recently concluded in May 2022. Around 7.1 million Somalis (almost 50 per cent of the entire population) face food insecurity at crisis levels or worse. Over 800 000 Somalis have been displaced due to extreme drought, most of them women and children.

With a new parliament elected and new government to be formed, opportunities for addressing some of Iraq’s most pressing water issues emerge. Such actions could be linked to and complement efforts that address existing climate-related challenges. The outgoing government became quite engaged in this field over the last years, with the signing and ratification of the Paris agreement, re-establishment of the Ministry of Environment, and the drafting of a green paper on addressing environmental and climate problems.

“We need young people from Somalia sitting at the decision-making tables of negotiations”, says Hassan Yasin, the co-founder of the Somali Greenpeace Association (SOGPA). Established in 2019, his non-profit organisation promotes climate and environmental justice in Somalia, a country disproportionately hit by the disastrous consequences of a combination of climate change and conflict.

On 17 June (14.45 - 16.00 CET) the Planetary Security Initiative (PSI) is organising a public event on the climate-related security risks and opportunities for environmental peacebuilding. As a knowledge hub, PSI links climate change and security, aiming to catalyse action in affected contexts.

On the 2nd and 3rd of June, world leaders met for the Stockholm+50 conference to discuss how to achieve a healthy planet for the prosperity of all. The UN meeting commemorated the landmark 1972 Stockholm conference, the first of its kind focussing on the environment. The event featured four plenary sessions along with leadership dialogues, side events, webinars and regional multi-stakeholder consultations.

Today the Expert Group of the International Military Council on Climate and Security (IMCCS Expert Group) launched a new report, Decarbonized Defense: The Need for Clean Military Power in the Age of Climate Change, the first in a series of papers comprising the third annual World Climate and Security Report.

Organized environmental crime has become one of the fastest-growing types of organized crime. In many conflict-affected contexts, it is the primary source of financing for non-state armed groups. In the light of this, how can peace operations and other multilateral actors respond to conflicts that are driven or sustained by activities that involve illegal exploitation and trade in natural resources?

The effects of climate change and water insecurity remain pressing issues – not only for Iraqis’ daily lives, but also for the country’s security. On 12 May 2022, PSI held its second climate-security dialogue in Basra, southern Iraq, in collaboration with Ozon for Sustainability, a local non-governmental organization. This event, titled “Fostering Climate Security and Environmental Cooperation in South Iraq”, convened over 80 local practitioners, academics and journalists.

Environment of Peace: Security in a New Era of Risk surveys the evolving risk landscape and documents a number of developments that indicate a pathway to solutions – in international law and policy, in peacekeeping operations and among non-governmental organizations.