Environment
As climate change amplifies weather disasters and destabilizes food and water supplies, recent research has confirmed: Our planet’s warming is weakening already fragile states, increasing the risk of violent conflicts and sparking human displacement and migration on an unprecedented scale. USIP is working to understand how climate policy and peacebuilding can work together to ensure that we stay ahead of the climate curve and put affected communities on the path toward long-term peace and stability.
Featured Publications
Ugandans Wield Faith and Youth Against Climate-Fueled Violence
At age five, Muhsin Kaduyu began following his father, a respected imam in southern Uganda, on missions of peace — constant meetings, mediations, consolations and prayers among Muslims and Christians in their town and surrounding farmlands. So years later, Kaduyu felt sickened when Islamist suicide bombers killed 74 soccer fans in a crowd near his university, deforming and defaming his faith. That bombing, and an anti-Muslim backlash, ignited a life’s mission that has made Kaduyu a prominent peacebuilder among millions of Ugandans who struggle for survival, prosperity and peace amid communal conflicts, violent extremism and growing climate disaster.
Traumatic Decarbonization in Fragile States
The process of decarbonization—that is, the replacement of fossil fuels with non-hydrocarbon-based forms of energy—is essential for meeting the climate goals articulated by international agreements. But in fragile, oil-dependent nations, where hydrocarbon revenues are often a key means of political control, decarbonization can spell the difference between peace and conflict. This report examines the consequences of the sudden loss of oil revenues for fragile, conflict-affected states and provides recommendations for policymakers on how to manage future decarbonization peacefully.
A Livable Climate Needs Help From Youth; the U.S. Can Foster It
Humanity is at a tipping point. New data confirms 2023 as Earth’s hottest-ever recorded year. Increasing temperatures, rising seas and extreme weather are heightening tension over resources, damaging people’s health and livelihoods, and displacing millions. Young people have one of the largest stakes in climate decisions made today, for they face the lasting environmental consequences of climate change — and the consequent threats to peace and security. Yet youth remain mostly excluded from decision-making on climate. U.S. leadership, via three steps in particular, can bolster genuine youth leadership on climate that prioritizes the welfare of future generations.
Current Projects
Critical Minerals in Africa
Often throughout Africa’s history, natural resource exploitation has brought devastating consequences. However, it’s clear that Africa’s critical minerals will be developed regardless of the risks. The question is: How will critical minerals be developed and to whose benefit?
Local Solutions for Tunisia’s Environmental Crises
In partnership with USAID, USIP is embarking on an innovative, experimental project that will support Tunisia’s local governments and civil society as they co-develop and implement solutions to environmental governance challenges that are exacerbating fragility and heighten ing exposure to climate shocks.
Peace and Security Issues in Africa-China Economic Relations
Much of the research that has been conducted on the impact of China’s economic engagement with Africa has focused on their economic exchanges and security engagements in isolation of one another. But few have sought to understand the interconnections between these themes. These interconnections matter, as some Chinese firms are responsible for environmental degradation, population displacement, corruption and illegal extraction activities — all of which are factors that can drive conflict.