New Security Beat

New Security Beat is the blog of the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program, with contributions from the Maternal Health Initiative, China Environment Forum, Urban Sustainability Laboratory, and Global Sustainability and Resilience Program. This is our Tumblr page.

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The Commander in Chief, Congress, and Climate Security: Who Has the Authority?

Climate change is the world’s greatest environmental threat. It is also increasingly understood as a threat to domestic and international peace and security – recognized by the Department of Defense as a “threat multiplier,” by Secretary of State John Kerry as “perhaps the world’s most fearsome weapon of mass destruction,” and by President Obama, in an address to graduates of the United States Military Academy, as “a creeping national security crisis.” The Supreme Court’s temporary blocking of the Clean Power Plan highlights the Federal-State divide over how to address climate change, but because of its national security dimension, climate change also raises unique separation-of-powers issues between the president and Congress with regard to how the military can respond.

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Water and Security Hotspots to Watch in 2016 [Infographic]

The ongoing violence in Syria exhibits the potential for water problems – a historic drought, in this case – to exacerbate existing social and political problems and contribute to humanitarian crises. In a recently released infographic, Circle of Blue combined data from the European Commission Joint Research Center’s Global Conflict Risk Index and the World Resources Institute’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas to identify 10 hotspots around the world where water “could play a role in developing or exacerbating humanitarian crises” in 2016.

The Global Conflict Risk Index evaluates the statistical risk of violent conflict over the next one to four years based on a quantitative analysis of indicators gathered from social, economic, political, security, geographic, and environmental dimensions.

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Ethan Zindler on Clean Energy in Emerging Markets: “The Private Sector Sees the Opportunity”

“The good news is clean energy has gotten much cheaper,” says Ethan Zindler, head of the Americas for Bloomberg New Energy Finance, on this week’s podcast. “The amount of stuff getting built for the same number of dollars has been going up. You’re getting more ‘bang for your buck’ when it comes to actual deployment.”

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What’s Next? A Report Out From the First Planetary Security Conference

In November 2015, experts from a variety of fields gathered at the Peace Palace in The Hague for the Planetary Security Conference, one of the first large-scale conferences on environmental security and what is hoped to be the start of an annual series. The conference report gives a sense of the diverse discussions held in the Netherlands.

From water to the Arctic, the topics discussed at the two-day conference hosted by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs were chosen by just over 300 participants during a year-long collaborative planning process. Participants were divided into 12 working groups that fell into regional, thematic, and strategic categories. Each came up with tailored analyses of challenges and actionable recommendations depending on their focus.

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When the Global Goals kick in, there will need to be more development efforts that cross traditional sectoral boundaries. Global leaders should turn to population-health-environment programs - a niche within global development - to improve their cross-sectoral reach.

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Durban’s Decentralized Water and Sanitation System Sets Global Standard

DURBAN, South Africa — Arguably the most elegant aspect of an inelegant subject is how this city of 3.2 million residents, South Africa’s second largest, is solving monumental water and waste challenges in its jammed informal settlements.

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Making Nunavut a Full Partner in Canadian Confederation

Canada is well known as a world leader in measures of human wellbeing. Since the launch of the UN Human Development Index in 1990, Canada has ranked among the top 10 countries every single year except one. But though Canadians can take a just pride in their country’s achievement on the global stage, it nevertheless masks grave concerns at home.

In the Canadian North, particularly in Arctic territory of Nunavut, this high standard of human development is conspicuously lacking. On most socio-economic indicators – health, education, housing, poverty, food security, crime, suicide, and so on – Nunavut lags national standards, in some cases to a shocking degree. Nunavut ranks alongside Palestine and Paraguay with respect to health and educational outcomes.

[newsecuritybeat]

Water and Security Hotspots to Watch in 2016 [Infographic]

The ongoing violence in Syria exhibits the potential for water problems – a historic drought, in this case – to exacerbate existing social and political problems and contribute to humanitarian crises. In a recently released infographic, Circle of Blue combined data from the European Commission Joint Research Center’s Global Conflict Risk Index and the World Resources Institute’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas to identify 10 hotspots around the world where water “could play a role in developing or exacerbating humanitarian crises” in 2016.

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Prized Natural Resources Are Rarely Addressed in Peace Agreements

Despite evidence that natural resources play a major role in many conflicts – 40 percentof all civil wars since the end of the Cold War, according to an estimate by the UN Environment Program – a study conducted by Arthur G. Blundell and Emily E. Harwell for the NGO Forest Trends reveals that most ceasefire and peace agreements do not address natural resources.

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Climate Change, Disasters, and Security: Unconventional Approaches to Building Stability

It is “not sufficient to look at history for lessons on how we should prepare for and prevent future security risks in a climate change world,” said Swathi Veeravalli, research scientist at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Geospatial Research Laboratory, at the Wilson Center on January 14. Climate change and the extreme weather events it brings pose an “unprecedented” threat to human security.

Natural disasters, driven in part by climate change, are affecting more people via higher frequency and intensity events, and a great number of people living in vulnerable areas. The EM-DAT natural disaster database recorded an average of 449 events per year between 2002 and 2010 as compared to 58 during the 1960s.

Veeravalli was joined by four other experts from the military, development, and humanitarian fields to discuss how complex crises are prompting more multi-disciplinary cooperation across disparate government agencies and between national governments.

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Mike Eckhart: “We Are 40 Years Into a 100-Year Energy Transition”

“In my view, we are 40 years into a 100-year transition to a clean energy economy,” says Mike Eckhart, global head of environmental finance and sustainability at Citigroup, in this week’s podcast. “We’re in the mainstream of building an industry.”

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Breaking Out of the Dome: Can Energy Efficiency Help Chinese Cities Conquer Air Pollution?

In December 2015, Beijing issued its first-ever “red alert” for smog, its highest air pollution warning, which closed schools and restricted the number of cars on the road. Less than two weeks later, it issued its second.

Somewhat ironically, as people in Beijing were trapped under a dome of smog, world leaders were gathering in Paris for the United Nations climate conference (COP-21) seeking solutions to achieve a “clean and resilient” future. At COP-21, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to combat air pollution and peak emissions around 2030 by curbing coal consumption and scaling up renewables.

[newsecuritybeat]

Prized Natural Resources Are Rarely Addressed in Peace Agreements

Despite evidence that natural resources play a major role in many conflicts – 40 percentof all civil wars since the end of the Cold War, according to an estimate by the UN Environment Program – a study conducted by Arthur G. Blundell and Emily E. Harwell for the NGO Forest Trends reveals that most ceasefire and peace agreements do not address natural resources.

[newsecuritybeat]

What will 2016's big environment and energy stories be? Join us this Thursday to hear top journalists discuss the year's major issues. Click here to read more and RSVP.

[newsecuritybeat]

Climate Change, Disasters, and Security: Unconventional Approaches to Building Stability

It is “not sufficient to look at history for lessons on how we should prepare for and prevent future security risks in a climate change world,” said Swathi Veeravalli, research scientist at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Geospatial Research Laboratory, at the Wilson Center on January 14. Climate change and the extreme weather events it brings pose an “unprecedented” threat to human security.

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Adapting to Climate Change in Cities May Require a Major Rethink

Around the world, urbanization and climate change are transforming societies and environments, and the stakes could not be higher for the poor and marginalized. The 2015 UN climate conference in Paris (COP-21) highlighted the need for coordinated action toaddress the profound injustice of the world’s most disadvantaged people bearing the greatest costs of climate impacts. Among those at the COP were mayors from around the world advocating for the important role of cities in these efforts.

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Zika Virus Prompts El Salvador and Others to Discourage Pregnancy – What Are the Potential Consequences?

The government of El Salvador took a truly extraordinary step in an attempt to control the rapidly spreading Zika virus last week by asking its citizens to avoid getting pregnant from now until 2018. Yes, you read that right.

The mosquito-borne virus is suspected to cause a condition called microcephaly, in which fetal brain development is stunted when a pregnant woman becomes infected. While other states in Latin America have warned women of the dangers of getting pregnant while the virus is uncontrolled, El Salvador has taken the strongest stance against pregnancy.

From a demographic perspective, it’s a fascinating experiment – how much can the government really control fertility, and can they do so without resorting to coercion?