Environmental Change and Security Program - ECSP

When electricity blackouts occur businesses can’t operate, kids miss school, health care can’t be delivered, toilets stop flushing, clean drinking water is unavailable, transportation goes down, and so on… The electric grid is central to economic strength and the health of the US economy.

The growing frequency of power outages undermines US competitiveness.

As climate-worsened extremes are leading to increasing power outages, Alice Hill examines specific policy steps that can help the US build a more resilient grid, and a more competitive economy.

Read more in the winter ‘23 issue of the Wilson Quarterly–Strategic Competition: Strengthening America’s Advantage in a Competitive World.

Climate Change Is Overpowering America’s Electric Grid Without a well-functioning electric grid, the US faces significant economic losses from outages. The growing frequency of power outages undermines competitiveness. As climate-worsened extremes are leading to increasing power outages, Alice Hill examines specific policy steps that can help the US bui...

Happy New Year to our Environmental Change and Security family! Best wishes to you and your loved ones as we enter and please stay connected as we look forward to new and exciting programming this coming year.

The entire Environmental Change and Security team would like to wish you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas and happy holiday season! We look forward to reconnecting with you in the New Year.

Without tackling water insecurity, we cannot address the challenges that stand in the way of building healthy, prosperous, and peaceful communities.

During today’s Water @ Wilson Series Launch our speakers discuss water, peace, security, and new tools to address water-related issues in a changing climate.

Stay tuned for future events in this series.

Tomorrow, the Wilson Center launches a series of events focused on the centrality of to global prosperity and security. Featuring emerging research, leading thinkers and doers from governments, the private sector, civil society, and academia, the series will explore entry points for more effective responses to global water insecurity from around the world and across sectors.⁠
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Join us at 9:20 am ET for the first event of the series featuring the launch of the WPS partnership’s early warning tool for conflict and a framework developed by The Wilson Center and NOAA to improve predictive capabilities for risks.⁠
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Register here:

Water @ Wilson Series Launch | Water, Peace, & Security: New Tools for a New Climate Every day, the headlines make it clear: A rapidly changing climate and shifting demographics mean the future of water resource management may not look like the past. Water is critical. It grows our food, generates our energy, sustains our ecosystems, and ensures our prosperity. Without tackling wate...

“As climate change continues to alter ecosystems and development destroys and degrades habitats, science-based conservation strategies gain ever more importance. Many experts are pushing for a global suspension of all commercial wild animal trade to protect biodiversity and human health.”

Global Fellow Sharon Guynup sheds light on the growing illegal wildlife trade and the need to fully address the crisis through global cooperation and action. Read her publication in the series: “Latin America’s Environmental Policies in Global Perspective.”

The Latin America-to-Asia Wildlife Trade To examine the role of the international community in shaping Latin America’s environmental agenda, the Wilson Center’s Latin American Program, Brazil Institute, the Environmental Change and Security Program, China Environment Forum, and Global Europe Program launched a collaborative research pr...

Today is 2022 International Day for Persons with Disabilities.

"As we reflect on this year’s International Day for Persons with Disabilities, the case of Nigeria’s mining industry offers us a glimpse at the opportunities that positive change can offer to women with disabilities in that country—and beyond."

Read our latest piece in New Security Beat from Nkasi Wodu. https://buff.ly/3PbB8nn

Women with Disabilities in Nigeria’s Mining Industry: Discrimination and Opportunities Women and girls with disabilities worldwide are subject to multiple forms of discrimination—a fact that the 2022 International Day for Persons with Disabilities brings into sharp focus. Yet while [...]

In this edition of the Wilson Center's Need to Know podcast, Fellow Raoni Rajao discusses his experience at and covers the debates taking place at the conference. Rajao, also explains who the key players are, what challenges they face, and how talks have progressed since he attended his first COP seven years ago.

COP27: An Inside Look at the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference In this edition of Need to Know, we are joined by Raoni Rajao, a Fellow of the Wilson Center's Latin American Program. He talks about his experience at COP27...

In recent years, Peru has become a hotspot for poaching and trafficking jaguars. In 2017, Global Fellow Sharon Guynup and her National Geographic team conducted field work in the Peruvian where they discovered that the illegal wildlife trade–specifically jaguar poaching for teeth, skins, and bones–was alive and thriving.

“With few wild tigers remaining, jaguar parts are being substituted for endangered tigers on the Asian black market, spurred by increasing Chinese-backed development in Latin America. This illegal trade is posing a new threat to Panthera onca, the largest big cat in the Americas,” writes Guynup.

But this issue is not only limited to Peru and jaguar poaching. Read our publication on the Latin America-to-Asia trade and its impact on global and human health.

The Latin America-to-Asia Wildlife Trade To examine the role of the international community in shaping Latin America’s environmental agenda, the Wilson Center’s Latin American Program, Brazil Institute, the Environmental Change and Security Program, China Environment Forum, and Global Europe Program launched a collaborative research pr...

On December 6, the Wilson Center launches a series of events focused on the centrality of to global prosperity and security. Featuring emerging research, leading thinkers and doers from governments, the private sector, civil society, and academia, the series will explore entry points for more effective responses to global water insecurity from around the world and across sectors.

As climate change compounds insecurity in new and dynamic ways, the tools we use to prevent and respond to insecurity must also evolve. The first event of the series will feature the launch of the WPS partnership’s early warning tool for conflict, which allows policy makers to anticipate conflict relating to water, food, and energy up to 12 months in advance, creating space for preventive action, and a framework developed by the Wilson Center and NOAA to improve predictive capabilities for climate security risks.

🔗RSVP to join us on December 6, 2022 from 9:20am–12:00pm ET for this highly anticipated event.

Water @ Wilson Series Launch | Water, Peace, & Security: New Tools for a New Climate Every day, the headlines make it clear: A rapidly changing climate and shifting demographics mean the future of water resource management may not look like the past. Water is critical. It grows our food, generates our energy, sustains our ecosystems, and ensures our prosperity. Without tackling wate...

In this Wilson Smart Take, the former President of Colombia, Iván Duque Màrquez, talks about notable agreements that came out of , what needs to happen next to achieve climate action goals, and the importance of protecting land and conserving biodiversity.

Smart Take: Key Takeaways from COP 27 The former President of Colombia, Iván Duque Màrquez, talks about notable agreements that came out of the COP 27 meeting, what needs to happen next to achieve climate-control goals, and the importance of protecting land in the conservation campaign.

When it comes to , states in the U.S. are taking charge.

Learn about Washington State's climate policy for decarbonization in all sectors of the state’s economy.

The Powerful Policy Ripples of Washington State’s CETA States are sometimes overlooked as drivers of climate action, yet some of them have been true leaders that bring significant influence. In Washington State, for instance, a strong coalition has [...]

"Ecological threats will continue to create humanitarian emergencies, increase conflict, and result in forced migration. The new report underscores how building resilience to these threats where they are most present must be top of the global agenda now and into the future."

More with Dr. Marisa O. Ensor & Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP):

Ecological Threats, Resilience and Peace: A New Assessment of Hotspots Which nations are most at risk of catastrophic outcomes due to intensifying ecological threats? The third edition of the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP)’s Ecological Threat Report [...]

Global population reached a milestone this week, reaching 8 billion. In this edition of Wilson Center NOW, ECSP & Maternal Health Initiative Fellow Jennifer D. Sciubba shares insights from her new book, 8 Billion and Counting: How S*x, Death, and Migration Shape Our World, on what current population trends mean for our future.

8 Billion and Counting: How Population Trends Shape Our World In this edition of Wilson Center NOW, Jennifer D. Sciubba discusses her new book, “8 Billion and Counting: How S*x, Death, and Migration Shape Our World.”

Are you a student or recent graduate interested in exploring the connections between the environment, health, population, development, conflict, and security Apply today to join ECSP's Green Team as a Spring 2023 paid intern!

To apply, submit your resume, cover letter, and writing sample by November 21, 2022.

Internships with the Environmental Change and Security Program The Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP) explores the connections between environmental change, health, and population dynamics and their links to conflict, human insecurity, and foreign policy.

We are now accepting applications for our Spring 2023 internship with ECSP’s Green Team! To apply, submit your resume, cover letter, and writing sample by Nov. 21, 2022.

Internships with the Environmental Change and Security Program The Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP) explores the connections between environmental change, health, and population dynamics and their links to conflict, human insecurity, and foreign policy.

Today, November 15, 2022, is the day the United Nations has estimated that global population will officially top 8 billion. In this edition of Wilson Center NOW, Fellow Jennifer Sciubba discusses what's behind our rapid population growth.

Sciubba highlights her new book, “8 Billion and Counting: How S*x, Death, and Migration Shape Our World.” The book argues that, "the story of the twenty-first century is less a story about exponential population growth, as the previous century was, than it is a story about differential growth―marked by a stark divide between the world’s richest and poorest countries."

8 Billion and Counting: How Population Trends Shape Our World In this edition of Wilson Center NOW, Jennifer D. Sciubba discusses her new book, “8 Billion and Counting: How S*x, Death, and Migration Shape Our World.”

How AGWA is Tracking and Shaping Water’s Crucial Role in Climate Adaptation As the last decade has brought about a dramatic shift in approaches to addressing climate change, water is increasingly at the forefront of the conversations around adaptation and resilience. In [...]

Addressing the complex interaction between and requires a multidimensional approach that offers means to decrease the likelihood of climate change contributing to insecurity.

Learn more about the links between climate change and security:

Beyond a “Threat Multiplier”: Exploring Links Between Climate Change and Security Ever since the CNA’s Military Advisory Board—composed of former U.S. military personnel—named climate change as a "threat multiplier" in a 2007 report, the term has gained widespread [...]

Which nations are most at risk of catastrophic outcomes due to intensifying ecological threats?

The Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP)’s Ecological Threat Report applies a lens of societal resilience to predicts the hotspots most likely to suffer from instability and conflict in the future. Learn more with Marisa O. Ensor ⤵️

Ecological Threats, Resilience and Peace: A New Assessment of Hotspots Which nations are most at risk of catastrophic outcomes due to intensifying ecological threats? The third edition of the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP)’s Ecological Threat Report [...]

Developing countries are losing billions of dollars due to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, which siphons off revenue through illicit financial flows, according to a new study by Financial Transparency Coalition.

Illegal fishing spurs billions in losses for developing countries, study says Analysis finds global practice is a major driver of marine ecosystems’ destruction and is estimated to run up to $50bn

Public Policy Fellow Ruth Greenspan Bell highlights her article, Wealth and the Climate Dilemma, which focuses on the crossroads that developing nations face when confronting increased development of fossil fuels and combating climate change.

Developing Countries and Climate Change In this edition of Wilson Center NOW, we are joined by Ruth Greenspan Bell, Public Policy Fellow with the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security P...

Climate change is impacting agricultural production, globally.

Global Fellow Gordon Feller writes how is increasingly disrupting harvests and placing stress on the world's breadbaskets.

Climate change weighing on agriculture Agribusinesses attempt to mitigate the threat while preparing for its impact.

"Ecological threats will continue to create humanitarian emergencies, increase conflict, and result in forced migration. The new report underscores how building resilience to these threats where they are most present must be top of the global agenda now and into the future."

Learn more from Dr. Marisa O. Ensor & the Institute for Economics & Peace () at the link in our bio.

📸 Institute for Economics & Peace

In case you missed it!

Read "Investing in Women and Girls is Central to Addressing Root Causes of Migration from Guatemala" by Population Institute President and CEO, Kathleen Mogelgaard ⤵️

Investing in Women and Girls is Central to Addressing Root Causes of Migration from Guatemala In recent years, a growing proportion of migrants at the US southern border have come from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. This surge of migrants from Central America has prompted the U.S. [...]

🔴 LIVE NOW | Threats to the Amazon are pushing it closer to an irreversible tipping point. Join The Wilson Center in partnership with The ICCF Group for an expert-led discussion on the role of the private sector in safeguarding the ’s future.

Answering the Amazon’s Call: Private Sector Mobilization for Protection of the Amazon Join the Wilson Center in partnership with the International Conservation Caucus Foundation for an expert-led discussion on private sector mobilization to protect the Amazon.

Latin America’s mining sector could play a consequential role in addressing the climate crisis, producing minerals such as lithium and copper that are essential to renewable energy technologies such as electric vehicles. At the same time, mining has traditionally had major environmental impacts, including related to the sector’s high energy use.

Join the Wilson Center's Latin American Program and ECSP tomorrow, Nov. 3, from 11 am – 12 pm ET, to discuss decarbonization pathways in ’s mining sector.

Renewable Energy and Mining in Latin America Latin America’s mining sector could play a consequential role in addressing the climate crisis, producing minerals such as lithium and copper that are essential to renewable energy technologies such as electric vehicles. At the same time, mining has traditionally had major environmental impacts, i...

To mitigate , a global shift away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy is required. In the coming years, the demand for needed for the transition is expected to soar.

Globally, mineral extraction has been linked to instances of violent conflict, human rights abuses, governance risks, and environmental degradation. In sourcing the minerals that will power the global energy transition, how can we avoid the injustices and risks often linked to resource extraction? How can we maximize opportunities for the communities and countries providing green minerals?

Our latest explainer video created in partnership with the United States Institute of Peace and Andean Information Network, for Geneva Peace Week ( ), offers an overview of the risks posed by green mineral mining and possible avenues to promote more peaceful and inclusive development. It highlights pathways forward from the perspectives of local actors, researchers, and practitioners.

Watch here:

Green Minerals: Justice and Opportunity in the Renewable Energy Transition To mitigate climate change, a global shift away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy is required. And although we all stand to gain from addressing climate change, some communities are in danger of paying a steep price for the world’s energy transition. Renewable energy technologies, from...

Disruptions in global supply chains have jeopardized food and health security, and the need to transition to a greener economy is increasingly dependent on critical minerals largely available in remote or unstable areas of the world.⁠
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Few issues are equally complex and vital to our daily lives as global . Through original photography, thoughtful analysis, and skilled storytelling, the new issue of the Wilson Quarterly examines these complexities alongside innovations to help build resilient supply chains.⁠
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Read more in "As Strong As Our Weakest Link."

As Strong as Our Weakest Link As an era of hyper-globalization and complex global supply chains confronts multiple global events—the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and weather related catastrophes—supply chain vulnerabilities have become increasingly clear. The fall 2022 issue of the Wilson Quarterly esta...

In our recent Dot-Mom piece on the blog, Susie Jolly, Honorary Associate at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), breaks down how s*x education is enmeshed in power dynamics and institutional norms.

She lays out three strategies towards decolonizing s*x ed:
1️⃣ Resources and reparation
2️⃣ Changing s*xuality education content
3️⃣ Changing who decides content

Read more here:

Decolonising S*x Education We should be outraged by s*xuality education’s colonialist connections. As a researcher and trainer based in the UK, I see how deeply blatant colonialist influences run in the field of s*x [...]

promotes worldwide awareness for global food security and for the need to ensure healthy diets for all.

Learn more about efforts being made across Africa and the world with articles and events from The Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program & Wilson Center Africa Program in our blog, New Security Beat. https://buff.ly/2NE6X7R

In September, the remnants of Typhoon Merbok hit the western coast of and became the most powerful early-season storm ever recorded there. The storm, intensified by climate change, damaged freezers and tools used by Alaskan Natives for subsistence.

Climate Change Comes for the Freezers, a Key Tool for Alaska Natives Threatened by stronger storms and a melting permafrost, Indigenous Alaskans are grappling with how to keep the power running to their freezers, which store their traditional subsistence foods.

EVENT | 10/14/22 at 10:00 a.m. ET

In advance of COP27, and as the UK's COP Presidency enters its final weeks, the Wilson Center and the British Embassy, Washington D.C. is proud to host COP26 President Alok Sharma.

On the heels of his trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya and ahead of COP27, Sharma, who is also a British Cabinet minister, will reflect on how —and responses to it—are reshaping our world, and how the global community can collaborate more effectively to forge the path ahead for .

Sharma's speech will be followed by a conversation on the achievements and challenges of COP26, his experience leading the negotiations, and what the next steps are in the global effort to act on climate change.

RSVP to join us virtually or in-person tomorrow at 10:00 am ET for this highly anticipated conversation:

COP President Alok Sharma: Looking Back and Stepping Forward Please join the Wilson Center, in partnership with the British Embassy, Washington D.C. for a highly anticipated conversation with COP26 President Alok Sharma.

65,000 wild salmon were found dead along a creek bed in British Columbia as a result of a month-long drought. Areas of BC's western coast are experiencing a level of drought that could have socioeconomic and ecosystem impacts, according to the province.

Thousands of salmon found dead as Canada drought dries out river A lack of rain on the western coasts saw 65,000 dead salmon wash up on the creek

Globally, at least 1,733 people have been killed in the last decade for their efforts defending the environment, according to Global Witness. Latin America accounts for two-thirds of these deaths.

In what is already one of the most violent regions of the world, drug cartels are now becoming more involved in environmental crime. The Amazon has become a key drug route, connecting cartels with criminal groups that are carrying out illegal logging, mining, and land-grabbing. Punishments for these environmental crimes are relatively weak.

The Escazu Agreement, which entered into force last year, is meant to ensure the protection of environmental defenders. But many countries, including Colombia and Brazil, have not signed on.

Where defending nature can be deadly No region is more dangerous for environmentalists than Latin America. We explain why it’s getting worse.

The global thirst for hydrocarbons has left pollution, corruption, and war in its wake for more than a half century. Today, a new class of critical minerals are fast displacing petroleum as the powerhouse of the global economy—is this just another resource curse, or is there a better way?

Tomorrow at 11 a.m. ET, join the Wilson Center and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for an expert discussion on what better looks like when it comes to mining, processing, recycling, and consuming critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, niobium, and titanium.

What Better Looks Like: Breaking the Critical Minerals Resource Curse The global thirst for hydrocarbons has left pollution, corruption, and war in its wake for more than a half century. Today, a new class of critical minerals are fast displacing petroleum as the powerhouse of the global economy—is this just another resource curse, or is there a better way?

Read the Top 5 posts of August 2022 in our award-winning blog, New Security Beat.

1️⃣ Agricultural Land in Russian Territorial and Geopolitical Ambitions
2️⃣ Creating an Environment of Peace Means Avoiding Backdraft
3️⃣ Leveraging Hydropower for Peace
4️⃣ Climate Solutions from the Ground Up: The Importance of Place-Based Approaches
5️⃣ Fishing for Equity and Inclusion: Women’s Socioeconomic Factors in Kenyan Fisheries

Top 5 Posts of August 2022 In August’s top post, Jiayi Zhou discusses an underexplored dimension of Russia's invasion of Ukraine: Farmland and agriculture. While the negative impacts of the conflict on food security [...]

Pakistan continues to face a devastating flooding crisis inextricably linked to .

In 2019 we partnered with NOAA and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research to develop a framework to improve predictive capabilities for security risks posed by extreme weather events. Our "Foresight for Action" series highlights the research used to develop the framework.

Within the series, South Asia Institute Director Michael Kugelman and ECSP Associate Amanda King highlight the need for climate foresight in . To support and identify national security vulnerabilities in Pakistan, partnerships and communication involving foresight and predictive analysis tools is necessary.

Foresight for Action | Improving Predictive Capabilities for Extreme Weather and Water Events in Pakistan The Wilson Center is partnering with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research to develop a framework to improve predictive [...]