Date of publication: 27 September 2021 Publication
Nayifa Nihad and Adriana Erthal Abdenur, Plataforma CIPÓ

As sea levels rise, soil erosion accelerates, and droughts and floods intensify -- to name only three impacts of climate change -- local communities are increasingly affected. People lose their livelihoods and cultures, are forced to move, and suffer health problems. More broadly, human security is increasingly being undermined by climate change. Conversely, communities in conflict-affected settings often are also sources of innovation and repositories of first-hand knowledge and expertise for tackling climate-related risks through locally appropriate adaptation and resilience strategies. As a result, mapping and harnessing community-based approaches for addressing climate insecurities have become essential for addressing climate-related insecurities. Action to support rural women in entrepreneurship, strengthening early warning systems and response, building local capacities in adopting energy-efficient technologies, and educating youth to value and protect their environments would enable a more grounded approach to addressing climate-related conflict and violence.

The purpose of this mapping brief is to call attention to and provide examples of local initiatives for climate-sensitive conflict and violence prevention. Identifying existing initiatives at the local level is important because policy discussions of climate and security have focused largely on global, regional and national levels. Yet, without harnessing the lived experiences, perspectives, concerns and demands of local actors -- as well as their knowledge and capacity -- decision-making at higher governance levels runs the risk of leading to ineffective initiatives, or even, at the worst-case scenarios, to exacerbate conflict and violence. In sum, we provide an overview of key local initiatives to allow stakeholders such as international organisations, donor countries, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to better understand opportunities to develop locally-informed climate action in conflict-affected settings.

Source: https://gppac.net/resources/forefront-climate-action-local-approaches-climate-sensitive-conflict-and-violence

Conservation International compiles organizational and programmatic lessons learned from 10+ years of integrating conflict sensitivity and environmental peacebuilding into conservation.

Conservation International (CI) sees conflict and peace as fundamentally linked to the success of our mission. Building on a decade of experience with conflict, conservation and peace, CI is partnering with PeaceNexus Foundation with the long-term vision that conflict and peace issues are considered integral to CI’s conservation work, sufficient attention and resources are allocated to discussing, managing, and proactively addressing conflict and promoting peace as part of its mission to protect nature, global biodiversity and human well-being. This means considering, analyzing and addressing conflicts and identifying peacebuilding opportunities throughout our business operations.

This document highlights key accomplishments and lessons for CI on this conflict sensitivity (CS) and environmental peacebuilding (EP) agenda, drawing on more than 10 years of experience and the specific opportunities and successes as part of the CI-PeaceNexus partnership since 2018. CI’s dedicated team and cadre of peace and conservation champions around the world have demonstrated commitment and vision to advance the importance of addressing conflict issues in conservation.

From: https://cnxus.org/resource/conflict-sensitivity-and-environmental-peacebuilding-in-conservation-lessons-learned-from-conservation-international/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=4911cce3-2fa3-4bad-a78a-b6255e8d545a

Why should conservation matter to peacemakers?

In a world where climate change is intensifying conflict over scarce water, land and other resources, HD’s new research report Linking Conservation and Peacemaking highlights why mediation and dialogue efforts cannot ignore environmental protection.

Environment-related risks to people’s security and the depletion of natural resources will only worsen in the years ahead, making it crucial for mediators to explore ways of connecting biodiversity conservation and peacemaking to ensure lasting peace.

The report presents various options to address conservation in the context of peace negotiations and agreements, focusing on natural resource governance and management.

The recommendations include forging partnerships with organisations working on land restoration at the local level to complement existing mediation efforts around natural resources, address the future impacts of climate change and provide livelihoods for communities.

The report also suggests exploring possibilities for facilitating transboundary management arrangements, such as agreements around water use and access, and using cooperation around conservation as a confidence-building measure.

Mediators do not need to become conservation experts but they risk limiting the sustainability of their peacemaking efforts without building new partnerships and a deeper understanding of the conservation field.

By more systematically engaging with conservation issues and actors, peacemakers can promote outcomes that benefit nature and foster peace at the same time.

https://hdcentre.org/insights/linking-conservation-and-peacemaking-hd-research-report/

The GPPAC practical Step-by-Step Guide is a resource on how to document, assess, and address climate security challenges at the local level.

It outlines five steps to help local peacebuilders document local climate security challenges and address gaps in current climate change and conflict response strategies by creating and implementing a localised risk assessment.

GPPAC members from Mozambique, Uganda, and Zimbabwe piloted the Step-by-Step Guide in their communities. GPPAC developed the Step-by-Step Guide for local peacebuilding experts worldwide to conduct a climate security risk assessment based on their local and indigenous knowledge and expertise to design strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate risks.

The Step-by-Step Guide provides tips and suggestions for local peacebuilders to develop and utilise a localised climate security risk assessment and share their findings with national, regional, and global policymakers.

https://gppac.net/resources/localising-climate-peace-and-security-practical-step-step-guide-local-peacebuilders

The White Paper on the Future of Environmental Peacebuilding aims to deliver a strong, cogent message about the relevance, evidence, and promise of environmental peacebuilding to the Stockholm+50 forum in June 2022.

The term ‘White Paper’ is typically used in government circles to denote a publicly available, balanced document designed to help readers make decisions. This white paper seeks to encourage debate and discussion over the challenges, opportunities, and possibilities for environmental peacebuilding in conflict-affected states and societies. The paper and compendium are the product of a global conversation about the future of environmental peacebuilding and they draw from extensive academic work and practical experience.

This white paper is inspired by many voices. Though concise, the white paper hopes to emphasize the growing assortment of approaches, ideas and visions for the future of environmental peacebuilding.

The white paper is divided into four parts. The first gathers perspectives on the global context of environmental peacebuilding. The second points to some of the key challenges to environmental peacebuilding practice, while part three highlights important opportunities to harness the environment for peace. The fourth presents an agenda for the future of environmental peacebuilding.

We know that the human species is already in conflict with the natural world—a conflict in which we can only be victims, not victors. Experience shows that it is no longer simply desirable that peacebuilding interventions integrate environmental threats; it is now absolutely imperative that we mainstream integrated, effective, and sustainable environmental peacebuilding policy and practice to secure lasting peace for the future of our planet.