The Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP) of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars held a roundtable discussion on the potential for both conflict and peacebuilding in climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. Speakers included Geoffrey D. Dabelko, Director of ECSP, and Alexander Carius, Co-Director and Co-Founder of adelphi. The webcast is available online.



A recent publication entitled "Contested Urban Land: Approaching Land Management and Land-based Conflicts in Urban Somaliland" investigates root causes of existing land conflicts in Somaliland. The study pays special attention to land management failures and requirements to prevent conflict, as well as to problems of land tenure security.



In his book "Climate Conflict", Jeffrey Mazo from the International Institute for Strategic Studies discusses how climate change can drive instability, conflict and collapse. He assesses current risks by combining lessons from history with state-of-the-art insights on the dynamics of fragile states. He also develops policy recommendations to identify ways to cushion negative impacts.

In May 2010, Oxford Professor Paul Collier published "The Plundered Planet: Why We Must – and How We Can – Manage Nature for Global Prosperity". It discusses ways to use and benefit from the planet’s natural wealth in a sustainable way. Collier argues that technological innovation, environmental protection, and regulation are key to ensuring equitable development.



A group of British universities recently published a new study entitled "The Waters of the Third Pole: Sources of Threat, Sources of Survival". The report analyses the role of water as a vital resource and as a potential crisis driver in the Hindu-Kush Himalaya (HKH) region. In particular, the study investigates the consequences of global warming on this conflict-prone and water-rich region, which is also called the Third Pole.

Published in: ECC-Newsletter, June 2010