Related news: Climate change and risk

SIPRI co-hosted a side event to COP16 CBD in Cali, Colombia.

SIPRI and its partner, the FES Colombia Office with support from SIANI, have published a report addressing, among others, food security and land rights challenges in Latin America.

On 9 October, two SIPRI experts briefed members of the German parliament on climate-related security risks.

SIPRI, the Kofi Annan Foundation (KAF) and the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens will host an interactive workshop during Geneva Peace Week.

Last month, the Stockholm Hub on Environment, Climate and Security held a high-level event on ‘Economic Competitiveness and Resilience in the Era of Climate Change’.

The event, which took place in Stockholm, brought together experts from diverse sectors for a dynamic dialogue on a subject that transcends borders but also lies at the core of Sweden’s resilience, economic competitiveness and stability. 

On 3–5 May 2024, SIPRI, the United Nations Climate Security Mechanism and FBA hosted a UN Strategic Dialogue on Climate, Peace and Security.

On 2 May, SIPRI and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) successfully convened a roundtable discussion on climate, environment, peace and security.

SIPRI engaged in a high-level panel discussion on ‘Climate, Food Security and Conflict’. The event was co-hosted by the Permanent Missions of Germany and Guyana to the United Nations.

Today, SIPRI and its partner, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), are launching a new series of videos and a report on environmental and climate justice and the dynamics of violence in Latin America.

Click here to watch the playlist.

Click here to download the report.

SIPRI participated in two workshops at the 10th edition of Geneva Peace Week (GPW), which took place on 30 October to 3 November. The event is an annual forum though which organizations in Geneva and their international partners come together to share knowledge and practice on topics related to peace.

Recently, SIPRI’s work on climate-related security risks in West Africa was presented and discussed at a high-level conference in Abuja, Nigeria. The conference was held on 13 September and hosted by SIPRI’s partner, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Nigeria. The conference focused on the report, ‘Climate Change and Security in West Africa’. 

On 4 October, SIPRI co-organized a session at the 2023 Africa Resilience Forum in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The session ‘Accelerating Finance for Sustaining Peace’ focused on how to reconfigure the climate finance system towards innovation, sustainability and predictability while widening the engagement of financing actors.  

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) played an active role in Africa Climate Week (ACW). The event was held in Nairobi, Kenya on 4–8 September and is one of four regional climate weeks to help build momentum ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) later in the year.

On Friday 16 June, SIPRI had the privilege of hosting a visit from Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria and a delegation from the European Union’s Political and Security Committee (PSC). The PSC is a permanent body within the EU that deals with security policy. The visit featured a panel discussion on the theme ‘Towards an Environment of Peace’, moderated by Dan Smith, SIPRI Director. The high-level participants included:

On 29–31 May, SIPRI was invited to participate in the 2023 Bratislava Forum. The Bratislava Forum is a yearly conference organized by the think tank GLOBSEC. It is a major platform for thought leaders, global think tanks, experts, heads of international organizations and innovators across Europe.

On 14–15 June, SIPRI hosted a two-day interactive workshop on ‘Delivering an Environment of Peace: Moving from Policy to Action’. The workshop brought together international researchers, policymakers and practitioners, who work on issues related to climate, environment, peace and security. Participants shared some of the challenges they face in implementing responses to climate security risks and discussed practical ways forward.

On 8 May, SIPRI, in cooperation with the Nordic Africa Institute and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, hosted an event on ‘Climate, Peace and Security in West Africa and the Sahel: Towards Effective Responses’.

Last month, SIPRI experts and researchers travelled to Brussels to participate in several events.

On 23 March, SIPRI, the Swedish Government, the Somalian Government and the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), co-organized a side event for the United Nations 2023 Water Conference. The side event was titled ‘Commitments to Accelerate Cooperation on Water, Environment, Climate and Peace’ and was held at the UN Headquarters in New York.

(Stockholm, 4 April 2023) There is an urgent need to understand how a range of emerging ecological challenges could trigger catastrophic instability and insecurity, argues a new report published today by SIPRI. 

Five Urgent Questions on Ecological Security is co-authored by Dan Smith, SIPRI Director, and Rod Schoonover, CEO of the Ecological Futures Group and the former Director of Environment and Natural Resources at the US National Intelligence Council. 

Today SIPRI and its partners launch a new series of videos that examine the linkages between climate change and security in West Africa.

On 13 March, SIPRI and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) held a closed roundtable focused on climate, peace and security in Afghanistan since 2021. The event was held online.

SIPRI had an active presence and co-hosted several events during the 2023 Munich Security Conference, 17–19 February. Topics for discussion included the food–climate–security nexus, how the war in Ukraine could fuel global instability and the European Union civilian crisis management.

SIPRI is pleased to launch a new video series that explores how the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) can help address the security implications of climate change, featuring experts from the Brookings Institution, Global Affairs Canada, NATO and the Swedish Armed Forces.

Last week the Stockholm Hub on Environment, Climate and Security, a cross-institutional research collaboration supported by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA), held its third high-level meeting since its relaunch in May 2022. The meeting took place at the Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC) on 26 January.

This week SIPRI held a launch of its Environment of Peace report in Latin America. The report provides the most comprehensive account to date of how different aspects of the environmental crisis are interacting with today’s darkening security horizon to create a new era of risk.

SIPRI is pleased to release the Environment of Peace research report, which sets out in detail the evidential and analytical foundations of the policy report Environment of Peace: Security in a New Era of Risk that was launched in May at the 2022 Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development.

On 29 November Hafsa Maalim, SIPRI Associate Senior Researcher, participated in a hybrid United Nations Security Council Arria-formula meeting entitled ‘Climate, Peace and Security: Opportunities for the UN Peace and Security Architecture’.

SIPRI will actively engage in several events at the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27). The conference is held on 6–18 November in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

SIPRI, in collaboration with the governments of Germany and Sweden and the German Council on Foreign Relations, hosted a side event at COP27’s preparatory meeting (PRECOP27) in Kinshasa on 5 October. The event addressed the conflict situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and its links to climate security.

The executive summary of SIPRI’s flagship policy report Environment of Peace: Security in a New Era of Risk has now been published in all six official languages of the United Nations.

The latest edition of the Human Development Report, released today, dedicates a spotlight section to SIPRI’s flagship Environment of Peace policy report.

World Water Week 2022 provided SIPRI experts with an opportunity to present aspects of their work on the security implications of climate and environmental change, including the Environment of Peace report.

On 21–22 June SIPRI actively participated in the third edition of the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development, which was on the theme ‘Africa in an Era of Cascading Risks and Climate Vulnerability: Pathways for a Peaceful, Resilient and Sustainable Continent’. The forum was held in a hybrid format in Cairo and online.

As part of Protection of Civilians Week 2022, SIPRI co-hosted a panel discussion titled ‘Protecting the Environment is Protecting Civilians: Environmental and Climate Tools in Peace Operations’.

As part of the 'Climate-related Peace and Security Risks' project, SIPRI co-hosted an expert round table on maintaining the operational resilience of peacekeeping operations in the face of climate-related disruptions. The event was held on 10 May in New York.

This week saw the relaunch of the Stockholm Hub on Environment, Climate and Security, a cross-institutional research collaboration supported by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

(Stockholm, 23 May 2022) World leaders are failing to prepare for a new era of complex and often unpredictable risks to peace as profound environmental and security crises converge and intensify, according to a major report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)

SIPRI had an active and engaged presence at this year’s Munich Security Conference, 18–20 February. With climate change as one of the focus themes of the conference, SIPRI hosted a round-table discussion titled ‘An Environment of Peace: The Challenge of Securing both Peace and a Sustainable Environment’.

On 25 January, SIPRI and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) organized a joint virtual consultation to inform the preparations for two flagship reports, SIPRI’s Environments of Peace report and UNDP’s ‘2021–22 Human Development Report’ (HDR).

Leading up to the launch of the Environment of Peace report in May 2022, members of the initiative have actively engaged in stakeholder activities since the beginning of the year.

On 10–11 November, SIPRI, in cooperation with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), convened the first meeting of the Regional Climate Security Working Group for West Africa.

SIPRI’s Environment of Peace initiative hosted a virtual workshop at this year’s Geneva Peace Week. The session on ‘Policy Pathways for an Environment of Peace’ took place on 3 November.

On 27 October, SIPRI, together with the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS) and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), hosted a virtual event exploring the water–energy–food nexus and its implications for climate change security.

On 29 September, SIPRI experts joined a high-level event on the role of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in the field of climate security. Held in Vienna, the event was organized by the Swedish delegation to the OSCE as part of Sweden's current role as chair of the organization.

On 10 September 2021, SIPRI hosted an expert round-table discussion with the Yemeni Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Dr Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, as part of his official visit to Sweden.

On 27 July, SIPRI, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) hosted an affiliated event of the United Nations Food Systems Pre-Summit on ‘From Conflict and Hunger to Stability and Nourishment: A Comprehensive Approach to Peace, Development and Humanitarian Action’.

On 17 June, SIPRI, the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung’s Peace and Security Centre of Competence Sub-Saharan Africa and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) hosted a webinar on climate-related security risks in West Africa.

This week saw the launch of the Nordic-Baltic Network on Climate, Peace and Security, an initiative anchored in the Climate-related Peace and Security Risks project co-lead by SIPRI and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI).

As part of the ‘Climate-related Peace and Security Risks’ project, SIPRI co-hosted a virtual expert-level dialogue on ‘Integrating Climate Security and Peacemaking in Somalia’ on 2 June.

Tomorrow (4 June) sees the debut of a new documentary featuring Johan Rockström, a member of the international panel guiding SIPRI’s Environment of Peace initiative and narrated by the renowned broadcaster Sir David Attenborough. 

On 22 April, Dan Smith, SIPRI Director, joined a virtual meeting of the Delegation for Relations with the Mashreq Countries and the Delegation to the ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly. The topic for the meeting was ‘The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: Can the EU Help to Overcome the Dispute?’.

This report sheds new light on this urgent question, through a case study of one of the biggest peace missions active today, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

On 26 March, SIPRI, IPI and NUPI hosted a virtual expert-level dialogue on the theme ‘Translating Mandates into Policy and Practice: Emerging Lessons from Operationalizing Climate-related Security Risks in Peace Operations and Peacebuilding’.

On 29 January, SIPRI and the International Peace Institute (IPI) hosted a virtual expert-level dialogue with United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) members, focused on exploring the PBC as a forum for discussions on climate-related security risks.

SIPRI and NUPI have agreed to a three-year cooperation with funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The aim of the collaboration is to inform the United Nations Security Council about climate-related security and development risks for selected countries and regions on the Security Council’s agenda.

On 20 November 2020, SIPRI briefed the inaugural meeting of the United Nations Security Council's Informal Expert Group on Climate and Security. The topic of the virtual meeting was the recent developments in Somalia.

On 22 October, Dan Smith, SIPRI Director, engaged in a high-level seminar on food security in the wake of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis and how these issues link to conflict and climate change.

SIPRI would like to congratulate the World Food Programme (WFP) on being awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize.

The Mistra Geopolitics research programme, of which SIPRI is a research partner, has been awarded funding for a second phase of the programme.

Ahead of the 50th anniversary of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment in 2022, SIPRI today presents a new initiative which aims to address the negative impact of environmental crises. The ‘Environment of Peace 2022’ (EP 2022) initiative is led by SIPRI under the guidance of a distinguished panel of international experts.

Today, Dan Smith, SIPRI Director, briefed the United Nations Security Council on the particular obstacles climate change is creating for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia.

As part of its engagement in peace and security matters in Africa, SIPRI, in cooperation with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Kenya office and the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), convened a meeting of the Horn of Africa Climate Security Working Group in Addis Ababa.

On 11 December, SIPRI’s Dr Florian Krampe participated in the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 25) in Madrid and engaged in the Global Climate Change Alliance Plus (GCCA+) session on ‘Climate and Security—Emerging Trends and Adaptive Strategies’.

(Stockholm, 23 October 2019) Climate change poses serious challenges to current and future peacebuilding missions, according to a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) which studies the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM).

On 22–23 May, SIPRI, in cooperation with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Kenya Office (FES Kenya) and the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), convened a two-day workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, to seek ways of better integrating the risks posed by climate change into peace and security processes in the Horn of Africa.

SIPRI, in partnership with the Centre for Arab Unity Studies (CAUS) and the Swedish Institute Alexandria, launched the Arabic translation of SIPRI Yearbook 2018.

The Expert Working Group on Climate-related Security Risks, hosted by SIPRI, launched a new report on Central Asia.

On 9 November, SIPRI, co-hosted a session on the theme ‘Women in the frontlines: Promoting inclusive approaches to the climate change and security nexus’ during the Geneva Peace Week.

This week saw the launch of the Stockholm Climate Security Hub, a cross-institutional knowledge platform supported by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The launch took place at the annual World Water Week in Stockholm.

SIPRI is hosting the Expert Working Group on Climate-related Security Risks, initiated during Sweden’s membership of the United Nations (UN) Security Council (2017–18).

SIPRI has been awarded a three-year grant from the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (FORMAS) to conduct research that investigates the changing livelihood conditions around the Omo-Turkana Basin—a lake basin which supports over 5 million people.

As a consortium partner of the Planetary Security Initiative (PSI), SIPRI played a key role in the third-annual Planetary Security Conference, held in The Hague, 12–13 December.

This is the first film in the ‘SIPRI Reflection’ series, which follows on from the successful 50th anniversary celebration series, ‘2016–A Year of Reflection’, with the aim to provide insightful and thoughtful analysis to guide viewers through some of the major themes of SIPRI’s wide-ranging work in peace and security.

Last week SIPRI and its partners launched Mistra Geopolitics, a large-scale, interdisciplinary programme examining the impact of climate and environmental change on today’s geopolitical landscape.

This event is organized by SIPRI, the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and Mistra Geopolitics. During the webinar, the editors and chapter authors of the new volume 'Anthropocene (In)securities: Reflections on Collective Survival 50 Years After the Stockholm Conference' will discuss some of the key issues of security and insecurity raised in the Anthropocene.

The event aimed to conceptualize regional water conflicts, review the fundamentals of water disagreements between Israel and Palestine and to identify ways forward.

The seminar co-organized by Global Challenges Foundation and SIPRI will focus on why climate change should be on the agenda of the UN Security Council.

Starting with a keynote speech by SIPRI Director Dan Smith, the panel will discuss this complex security situation, what we are missing and where we could go forward from here.

SIPRI will host an event at this year's World Water Week in Stockholm, focusing on security actors and the governance of water resources.

On 15 October, SIPRI will co-host a virtual event on 'Crisis, Conflict and Climate: From Immediate Humanitarian Response to Longer-term Peace and Development Solutions'.

Climate change related phenomena such as rising sea-levels, drought and resource scarcities are contributing conditions to social unrest and human insecurity. Livelihoods, food security and migration are all affected. There is a need to better identify and respond to the risks of instability and conflict arising from the interaction of climate change, environmental and ecological degradation and social, economic, demographic and political factors.

Given the profound impact of climate change, it is increasingly being viewed as a source of security risks. What are these risks exactly and how can policy address them?