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Benjamin Pohl

Benjamin Pohl is Head of Programme Climate Diplomacy and Security at adelphi where he focuses on the impact of global environmental change on foreign, security and development policy. He is responsible for the topic areas foreign policy, diplomacy, and water cooperation and has been working for five years at the interface of peacebuilding and global sustainable development. The core challenge in his projects often comes down to the constructive management of conflicts of interest in the face of limited natural resources.

Articles

Analytical tools for identifying water conflict risks – Event summary

Access to water can be a critical resource for cooperation, but also a source of tension. Identifying risks before their onset is crucial for the efficiency and economic feasibility of intervention strategies, but how can these risks be measured? To address this conundrum, adelphi together with several partners convened a side-event at World Water Week, which connected experts developing analytical tools to policy makers in the water sector.

The European Energy Innovation Imperative

On June 3rd 2016, the European Union joined six of its Member States and 14 other countries – including China and the United States – and became the 21st member of Mission Innovation, an initiative of governments committing to double their clean energy research budgets over the next five years. This, we argue, is a vitally important first step of taking Europe’s energy innovation imperative more seriously.

Publications

The Rise of Hydro-Diplomacy – Strengthening foreign policy for transboundary waters Cover

The Rise of Hydro-Diplomacy – Strengthening foreign policy for transboundary waters

The Rise of Hydro-Diplomacy – Strengthening foreign policy for transboundary waters Cover

This report calls on foreign policy makers to exert stronger political leadership in water diplomacy and to actively accompany and facilitate the efforts of technical and development experts. It shows that encouraging greater cooperation over transboundary waters offers significant prospects for the resolution of political conflicts and greater regional integration.

CSEN Climate-Fragility Risk Brief Sudan

Climate-Fragility Risk Brief: Sudan

CSEN Climate-Fragility Risk Brief Sudan

This climate-fragility risk brief outlines three ways in which climate change interacts with and contributes to conflict and fragility in Sudan, and two broad but interlinked levels of entry points for addressing climate-fragility risks in the country.

Cascading climate impacts: a new factor in European policy-making

As the EU revisits and updates its climate adaptation strategy and deals with fast-changing external relations, it is essential that policy-makers consider the risks of cross-border and cascading impacts and the Union’s range of influence for mitigating and preparing for them. In this short policy brief, the newly launched CASCADES project sets out the challenge.

Climate change and security: A short Q&A

This overview explains why climate change is a matter of concern for international peace and security and how the UN system should deal with climate-related security risks. It poses and answers seven questions.

Linking Water and Climate Diplomacy

Linking Water and Climate Diplomacy

Linking Water and Climate Diplomacy

To overcome existing shortcomings and strengthen adaptive capacities, the water (cooperation) and climate communities should engage proactively and seek to create synergies between their instruments.

Driving Transformative Change: Foreign Affairs and the 2030 Agenda

The challenges facing the international community are growing while the willingness to cooperate seems to be waning and unilateral action at times gets in the way of joint solutions. What exactly is the role of foreign policy in the global sustainability architecture? What are the fields of engagement and tools of a new "Diplomacy for Sustainability"?

Climate-Fragility Profile: Lake Chad Basin

This Climate-Fragility profile is envisaged as a first component of a Climate-Fragility Risk Assessment process – a process for actors working in contexts affected by climate and fragility risks to understand the linked nature of these risks and plan, design, implement and evaluate programmes to respond positively to these risks. It summarizes the key challenges the Lake Chad region is experiencing as a consequence of the interplay between climate change and fragility.

Rethinking Water in Central Asia – The costs of inaction and benefits of water cooperation

Despite general political commitment to cooperation, water policies in Central Asia are largely driven by uncoordinated and partly contradicting national strategies. By raising awareness of these costs of inaction, and by setting out a variety of pathways towards eliminating them in the future, the present report seeks to encourage and support Central Asian policy-makers in strengthening regional water cooperation and improved water governance.