Earth’s best defenders are Indigenous. They pay a price: violence.

Earth’s best defenders are Indigenous. They pay a price: violence.

Thursday, June 8, 2023

By: Binalakshmi Nepram

Little noted by the world, warfare in India’s northeastern state of Manipur this spring has killed hundreds of Indigenous people and uprooted more than 35,000 residents. This violence along the India-Myanmar border fits a global pattern, also little noted: For decades, some 80 percent of human conflicts have smoldered in the “biodiversity hotspots” where our planet’s flora and fauna are most threatened by battles for resources and wealth — and where Indigenous peoples suffer the violence while protecting humanity’s common ecological heritage. We should strengthen the world’s inadequate public attention and policies on this crisis, and 2023 offers a chance to do so.

Type: Analysis

Environment

Challenging China’s Grip on Critical Minerals Can Be a Boon for Africa’s Future

Challenging China’s Grip on Critical Minerals Can Be a Boon for Africa’s Future

Wednesday, June 7, 2023

By: Edward A. Burrier;  Thomas P. Sheehy

Demand for the critical minerals powering the world’s clean-energy technologies, consumer goods and defense applications is skyrocketing. These metals are what the modern economy runs on: we need them for our phones, electric vehicles and satellites, and so much more. Forecasts estimate that in the coming decades, the world will need many times more cobalt, copper, lithium and manganese, among other minerals, than what is currently being produced.

Type: Analysis

EconomicsEnvironment

How Heat Waves Are Destabilizing Asia

How Heat Waves Are Destabilizing Asia

Tuesday, June 6, 2023

By: Kayly Ober

Unprecedented heat waves continue to ravage Asia this year. Temperatures have climbed to highs of 45 degrees Celsius in Myanmar, 44.5 degrees Celsius in India and 41.9 degrees Celsius in China, with Thailand and Laos breaking all-time high records.

Type: Analysis

Environment

Peace, Poaching and Pangolins in Central Africa

Peace, Poaching and Pangolins in Central Africa

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

By: Alexia Tata

The pangolin — also known as the scaly anteater — is a small, primarily nocturnal mammal that lives in parts of Africa and Asia. Reportedly the most trafficked animal in the world, the pangolin is desired for its scales and its meat, particularly in Southeast Asia. Data shows that a pangolin is poached every three to five minutes. But the demise of the poor pangolin, as well as other trafficked species, has implications beyond the obvious risks to biodiversity. As new research shows, the proceeds of wildlife trafficking also contribute to violent conflict in Central Africa. Researcher Alexia Tata discusses the findings of her research on this issue and its implications for peace and security in the region.

Type: Analysis

Environment

Armed Force Isn’t Saving Colombia’s Forests, But a New Effort Might

Armed Force Isn’t Saving Colombia’s Forests, But a New Effort Might

Thursday, April 20, 2023

By: Jeremy Moore;  Jordon Mpingo

In six years since Colombia signed a peace agreement with its largest rebel movement, farmers, miners, loggers and armed groups have surged into the nation’s forests, felling trees and accelerating deforestation and its ills: a destabilized global climate and destruction of biodiversity and local communities’ habitats. As Colombia struggles to establish effective governance, the state is trying to shift away from previous reliance on military force to curb deforestation, a strategy that bred mistrust and violent conflict with local communities. Now a Colombian university is developing more effective forest-protection techniques to build sustainable solutions with those communities — an approach that can be shared globally.

Type: Analysis

Environment

To Secure Shared Environments, We Must Protect Indigenous Peacebuilders

To Secure Shared Environments, We Must Protect Indigenous Peacebuilders

Thursday, April 20, 2023

By: Chris Collins;  Mona Hein;  Emmanuel Davalillo Hidalgo;  Binalakshmi Nepram

Humanity observes our 53rd annual Earth Day this week while worsening our assault on our planetary home. Arguably our most critical protectors against this self-harm are Indigenous people who, only about 6 percent of us, protect 80 percent of Earth’s biodiversity. Yet powerful elites, armed groups and business interests attack and kill politically marginalized Indigenous environmentalists to continue clawing wealth out of ecosystems from the Amazon and Congo basins to the Himalayas. Any real hope of reversing our environmental degradation will require U.S. and international policymakers to strengthen protections for Indigenous environmentalists.

Type: Analysis

EnvironmentHuman Rights

Where Cryptocurrency, Water and Conflict Collide

Where Cryptocurrency, Water and Conflict Collide

Thursday, March 16, 2023

By: Kayly Ober

The booms and busts of the cryptocurrency industry are all over the news. But while the crypto market’s steep decline is a concern for crypto investors, the energy needed to mine cryptocurrency should be what catches the attention of policymakers. As of August 2022, total global electricity usage for crypto assets is estimated to be between 120 and 240 billion kilowatt-hours per year — more than the total used by entire countries such as Australia or Argentina. Amid the global energy crisis and efforts to stem the effects of climate change, the sheer scale of crypto’s electricity usage raises major questions regarding its sustainability.

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & PreventionEnvironment

Saving Congo’s Forests Means Changing ‘Law Enforcement’

Saving Congo’s Forests Means Changing ‘Law Enforcement’

Thursday, December 22, 2022

By: Judith Verweijen

The Congo Basin rainforests, the world’s second largest, form the planet’s single greatest “carbon sink,” absorbing the atmospheric carbon dioxide that is overheating our planet. Yet this crucial front line against climate change is threatened by illegal and industrial logging, mining, oil and gas concessions and ongoing warfare in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). To save the rich and unique ecosystems of the Congo Basin forests, policies are needed to stop destructive resource exploitation and ongoing violence. This includes devising more effective, holistic approaches to upholding conservation laws in national parks and other protected areas.

Type: Analysis

Environment

Water Can Be a Rare Win-Win for Israelis, Palestinians and the Region

Water Can Be a Rare Win-Win for Israelis, Palestinians and the Region

Thursday, December 15, 2022

By: Adam Gallagher

From Israel’s turbulent electoral politics and Palestinian political dysfunction to the cycle of intercommunal violence in the West Bank and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, it’s rare for much good news to come out of the Israeli-Palestinian context these days. But this June, a hopeful story emerged from the impoverished Gaza Strip when its Mediterranean beaches were deemed safe for swimming for the first time in decades.

Type: Analysis

EnvironmentPeace Processes