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.
The workshop, which attracted 80 participants, explored recommendations for environmental governance and resource management that can help to lay the foundations for a socially, economically and politically resilient peace. Part of the Geneva Peace Week 2021 workshop series, it focused on practical ways forward that are relevant for policymakers both internationally and locally.
The interactive session was moderated by Hafsa Maalim, Partnership Officer at the African Union Commission Political Affairs, Peace and Security Department and a lead author of the forthcoming Environment of Peace report. Several other members of the Environment of Peace team took part, including two more lead authors: Ndiloseh Melvis, an independent consultant on human rights, democracy and peace; and Cedric de Coning, Research Professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) Center on United Nations and Global Governance, who gave a keynote address.
The workshop discussions will feed into the Environment of Peace report, which will be launched in May next year at the Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development.
SIPRI was also present in another session, ‘Using Media and Communication to Address Climate-affected Drivers of Conflict’, which was part of the Geneva Peace Week 2021 digital series. Dr Florian Krampe, Senior Researcher and Director of SIPRI’s Climate Change and Risk Programme, took part in the discussion, which was based on recent research conducted by BBC Media Action and commissioned by the Environment of Peace initiative.
The session addressed experiences from projects in Kenya, Mali, Tanzania and Uganda that support media and journalism to address climate-induced sources of conflict and insecurity, and work on helping climate scientists to communicate more effectively. It sought to understand how media and communication strategies can engage, inform and support communities in addressing climate change and other environmental challenges and associated conflict risks. Watch a recording of the session here.
Read more about the Environment of Peace initiative. More information about Geneva Peace Week 2021 is available here.