Examines the intertwined crises of environmental degradation and global security. Moreover, it highlights how these crises collectively create compound, cascading, and systemic risks that threaten peace and stability, particularly in fragile regions. Environment of Peace: Security in a New Era of Risk.

Key Findings

1. Interconnected Crises:
   • Identifies a dual crisis: a deteriorating security environment and worsening environmental conditions. Rising military expenditures, increasing conflicts, and growing numbers of displaced people are juxtaposed with environmental decline, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.
2. Systemic Risks:
   • These interconnected issues create complex, systemic, and existential risks, necessitating profound changes in governance and policy to prevent their proliferation.
3. Pathways to Solutions:
   • Suggests two main avenues for addressing these risks: integrating peacebuilding with environmental restoration and directly tackling underlying environmental issues. It also considers how pro-environment measures might inadvertently exacerbate security risks.
4. Policy Recommendations:
   • Offers policy principles and recommendations to navigate this new era of risk, emphasizing the need for just and peaceful transitions to sustainable practices. It advocates for cooperation, adaptability, and inclusivity in policy-making and urges immediate and visionary action.
5. Global Cooperation:
   • Underscores the importance of international cooperation and argues that national assertiveness is insufficient to tackle global threats. It calls for a collective shift in mindset to address these pressing and deep-rooted challenges.

Overview

Executive Summary

Outlines the urgent challenges of the intertwined security and environmental degradation crises. Thus, it highlights that while the world grapples with immediate issues like war and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, more profound crises are emerging that threaten global stability. Calls for a collaborative and urgent response to humanity’s dual crises, advocating for a comprehensive approach that integrates peacebuilding with environmental integrity.

1. Rising Insecurity and Declining Environmental Integrity: Notes a troubling trend where indicators of insecurity are increasing while those of environmental health are deteriorating, creating a toxic mix that demands immediate attention.
2. Need for Joint Solutions: It emphasizes addressing these linked crises with integrated solutions promoting peace and environmental sustainability.
3. Role of Governments: Governments are identified as central players due to their legislative power and ability to enact rapid change. The summary calls for immediate action from various sectors, including the UN, national governments, and civil society.
4. Recommendations for Action: Presents six key recommendations for fostering an environment of peace. These include investing in preparedness, financing peace initiatives, ensuring inclusive decision-making, and enhancing education and risk research.
5. Urgency of Action: Stresses that while current crises may dominate headlines, the ongoing environmental degradation and complex risks require proactive measures to ensure a secure and sustainable future for all.

Two crises and a deficit

Outlines the interconnected challenges of security and environmental crises, emphasizing their significant implications for global stability. Moreover, it sets the stage for subsequent recommendations by presenting the current situation as a critical moment that requires urgent and integrated responses to ensure a sustainable and peaceful future.

1. Interlinked Crises: Discusses how the security crisis, characterized by rising conflicts and instability, is deeply intertwined with the environmental crisis, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. These crises exacerbate each other, creating a complex landscape of risks.
2. Governance Deficits: Highlights a significant deficit in governance, where existing frameworks and institutions are inadequate to address the scale and urgency of these crises. The current approaches to governance need to be more effective in managing the risks posed by the dual crises.
3. Need for Comprehensive Solutions: Advocates for a holistic understanding of these challenges and solutions recognizing the interdependencies between security and environmental integrity. It stresses that addressing one crisis without considering the other will lead to ineffective outcomes.
4. Call for Action: Calls for immediate and coordinated action from governments, civil society, and international organizations to develop strategies that simultaneously tackle both crises. It emphasizes the importance of innovative governance models that can adapt to the changing risk landscape.

A new era of risk

Discusses the evolving landscape of global risks, marked by complex, interconnected challenges that are increasingly systemic and existential. It highlights the complexity of modern global challenges and the need for integrated strategies to manage them.

1. Emerging Risks: Identifies a shift towards a new era marked by compound, emergent, and cascading risks. These risks are not isolated; they interact unpredictably, amplifying their impacts across different regions and sectors.
2. Real-Life Examples: Several case studies illustrate how various factors converge to create significant security threats. For instance, a heatwave in Russia affected global food supply chains, increasing tensions in the Middle East. Similarly, in Haiti, a combination of poverty, insecurity, extreme weather, and a pandemic resulted in a systemic shock.
3. Interconnectedness of Crises: Emphasizes that security crises, environmental degradation, and governance deficits are interlinked. Poor governance exacerbates environmental decline and insecurity, creating a vicious cycle difficult to break.
4. Need for Proactive Management: Argues for a proactive approach to risk management that includes planning for future challenges, enhancing resilience, addressing root causes of insecurity and environmental decline, and fostering collaboration among stakeholders.

A just and peaceful transition

Emphasizes the urgent need for transformative changes in energy systems and land use to combat environmental decline. It stresses that these transitions must be equitable and should not worsen existing inequalities. Overall, this section highlights the importance of a just and peaceful transition to tackle the intertwined security and environmental degradation crises, advocating for inclusive and fair strategies.

1. Urgency of Transition: Emphasizes that significant changes are required to halt and reverse environmental degradation, essential for reducing insecurity and conflict risks. The escalating impacts of climate change and ecological decline underscore the urgency of these changes.
2. Equity and Justice: Stresses that transitions must be just and peaceful, meaning that they should consider the needs and rights of marginalized and vulnerable communities. Ensuring these groups are included in decision-making is vital for achieving sustainable outcomes.
3. Holistic Approach: Advocates for a comprehensive approach that integrates environmental, social, and economic dimensions. This includes assessing the potential negative impacts of pro-environment measures before implementation to avoid unintended consequences.
4. Collaboration and Inclusivity: Calls for cooperation between various stakeholders, including governments, civil society, and the private sector, to create inclusive policies that promote environmental integrity and social justice.
5. Long-term Vision: Highlights the importance of a long-term vision that aligns immediate actions with broader goals of sustainability and peace. This vision should guide the transition process and ensure that it contributes to a stable and secure future.

Foundations of a new security

Outlines the essential elements to build a resilient and secure future amid emerging global risks. It establishes a new security paradigm that prioritizes resilience, equity, and sustainability, advocating for comprehensive strategies to navigate the complexities of contemporary global risks.

1. Resilience Building: Emphasizes the need to enhance resilience against new risks likely to arise due to environmental degradation and geopolitical tensions. This involves strengthening systems and communities to withstand shocks and stresses.
2. Addressing Underlying Drivers: Highlights the importance of tackling the root causes of environmental decline and insecurity, such as poverty, inequality, and poor governance. By addressing these underlying issues, societies can reduce vulnerabilities and enhance security.
3. Integrated Approaches: Advocates for integrated strategies that combine environmental sustainability with peacebuilding efforts. This holistic approach is necessary to create synergies between different sectors and ensure that actions in one area do not negatively impact another.
4. Collaboration and Partnerships: Calls for collaboration among various stakeholders, including governments, international organizations, civil society, and the private sector. Building partnerships is crucial for sharing knowledge, resources, and best practices to address complex challenges.
5. Innovative Governance: Stresses the need for innovative governance frameworks that adapt to the changing risk landscape. This includes fostering participatory decision-making processes that involve diverse voices and perspectives.

Towards an Environment of Peace

Presents a framework for fostering peace through environmental sustainability and addressing the interconnected security and environmental degradation crises. It outlines a vision for achieving peace via environmental stewardship, emphasizing the interconnectedness of these goals and the need for collaborative, informed action to create a sustainable and secure future.

1. Integrated Solutions: Emphasizes the need for joint solutions addressing environmental issues and security challenges. It advocates for policies that promote peace while simultaneously ensuring environmental integrity.
2. Role of the UN: Highlights the central role of the United Nations in integrating environmental considerations into peace and security efforts. The UN’s peace and security bodies should routinely incorporate environmental understanding into their work, while environmental entities should consider the security implications of their decisions.
3. Best Practices and Lessons Learned: Calls for sharing best practices and lessons from successful and unsuccessful initiatives that have aimed to enhance security and environmental outcomes. This knowledge exchange is crucial for improving future efforts.
4. Support for Cooperation: Stresses the importance of international and regional cooperation, particularly South-South cooperation, to enhance development, environmental sustainability, and human security.
5. Preparedness and Resilience: Advocates for investments in preparedness and resilience to reduce vulnerability to environmental and conflict shocks. This includes strategic reviews of how climate change impacts security risks and enhancing adaptive capacities.
6. Principles for Action: Outlines principles to guide the transition towards an environment of peace, including the need for proactive policymaking, international cooperation, adaptability to unexpected challenges, and ensuring that transitions are just and inclusive.