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UN Climate, Peace and Security Newsletter | #3 / 2025

Welcome to the UN Climate, Peace and Security Newsletter, curated by the Climate Security Mechanism (CSM) to share relevant information and updates on climate, peace and security (CPS) from around the world.

In 2025, the CSM is relaunching this newsletter in a new format, open to all and to be featured on the CSM website. Please stay tuned and feel free to share content and suggestions to help us make the revamped newsletter useful and distinctive.

In this third issue, we have prepared a selection of CPS-related publications, news, events, videos and blog posts that have marked the past few weeks up to and including July 2025. We hope you enjoy reading and look forward to your continued readership.

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Feature

Responding to growing calls for action by affected communities, Member States, regional organizations, experts and policymakers around the world, the Climate Security Mechanism (CSM) seeks to strengthen the capacity of the UN and its partners to systematically analyze and address the linkages between climate change, peace and security. Established as a joint UN initiative in late 2018, the CSM draws on the complementary resources of DPPA, UNDP, UNEP, and DPO. The 2024 CSM progress report summarizes the main achievements of the CSM and its partners in 2024 towards advancing peace-positive climate action, catalyzing climate-informed approaches to peace and security, and forging partnerships with actors at all levels.

On 23 June, the CSM convened the CSM Partnership Dialogue 2025 in Addis Ababa and online jointly with the UN Office to the African Union (UNOAU), and in partnership with the Group of Friends on Climate and Security, following successful hybrid iterations in New York (2023) and Nairobi (2024). The 2025 Dialogue took place against the backdrop of important continental momentum, including ongoing efforts of the African Union (AU) to develop a Common African Position on Climate Change, Peace and Security. This Dialogue provided an opportunity for existing and prospective partners to deepen their understanding of the CSM’s work, hear CPS Advisors working across different regions and countries, and exchange a range of different perspectives. The Dialogue gathered 140+ participants from 19 Member States, 9 regional organizations, 16 UN entities, and experts and practitioners from development agencies and financial institutions as well as 20+ knowledge, research and civil society organizations. On that occasion, the CSM launched its Survey of Practice on CPS: Emerging Lessons from Advisors and Initiatives.

On the occasion of the CSM Partnership Dialogue 2025 held on 23 June in Addis Ababa and online, the CSM officially launched the Survey of Practice on Climate, Peace and Security (CPS): Emerging Lessons from Advisors and Initiatives. In 2024, the CSM had commissioned the UN University Centre for Policy Research (UNU-CPR) to consolidate efforts by the CSM and partners to analyze and address CPS challenges and opportunities. The research examined the emerging role of CPS Advisors and other CSM interventions, pointed to the main impact pathways in the contexts examined, and derived key advantages, limitations and recommendations. The resulting report is the most comprehensive piece to date gathering best practices and lessons learned from CSM-supported work at regional and country level.

On 24 and 25 June, the CSM and UNOAU convened the Africa-based CPS Advisors and Experts for a Strategic Coordination Workshop in Addis Ababa. Leveraging UNOAU’s unique positioning at the continental level, it aimed to enhance coordination to support African CPS efforts and contribute to Africa’s preparations and positioning ahead of key global milestone events, including the Second Africa Climate Summit and UNFCCC COP30. The workshop gathered advisors and experts from Somalia, South Sudan, the Horn of Africa, UNOAU, UNOWAS, UNOCA, the Liptako-Gourma Authority, the Lake Chad Basin Commission, and the UNDP Regional Service Centre for Africa. Experts from the AU and regional bodies and key development partners, think tanks, and institutions engaged in CPS analysis, policy, and programming in Africa also joined the first day. Colleagues worked to consolidate and strengthen the joint coordination of UN-supported CPS initiatives across the continent, develop shared strategic priorities, and identify joint approaches to address CPS risks and opportunities in support of the AU, Regional Economic Communities, Regional Mechanisms, Member States, and Climate Commissions.

On 8 and 9 July, the validation workshop of the Niger National Strategic Action Plan on Climate, Peace and Security took place in Niamey, Niger. The workshop was co-organized by the Ministry of Environment, Hydrology and Sanitation of Niger, the Liptako-Gourma Authority and UNDP, and was facilitated by the CSM-supported CPS Advisor deployed to the Liptako-Gourma Authority. The workshop included a broad multi-stakeholder engagement where national and local government authorities, civil society, researchers, technical experts, traditional leaders, and development partners all contributed to shaping the final review of the plan. Building on the 2023 Bamako Declaration, the CSM with support from the United Kingdom partnered with Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger to develop and operationalize National Strategic and Action Plans on CPS. The validation of the Niger Action Plan marks an important achievement for the Liptako-Gourma region as Niger is the most recent country after Burkina Faso and Mali to have validated a strategic policy document on CPS, following the adoption by Burkina Faso of its first-ever Strategic and Action Plan on CPS in September 2024 with support of the CSM.

During the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (30 June – 4 July, Sevilla), the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in partnership with the CSM, DPPA and UNDP organized a high-level side event entitled “Financing for peace: Unlocking investment for climate security and land restoration in fragile and conflict-affected contexts” (2 July). The event brought together policymakers and development and environmental experts and practitioners, to discuss the severe underinvestment for climate and land restoration finance in fragile and conflict-affected settings. It highlighted the vital intersection of land restoration, CPS, and peacebuilding in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. It also explored conflict-sensitive financial strategies including blended finance and risk-sharing mechanisms to unlock investment in environmental resilience and peace.

On 25 June, the Republic of Korea convened an event on “Advancing Climate, Peace, and Security in the Asia-Pacific for Shared Prosperity” in partnership with adelphi, co-sponsored by Co-Chairs of the Group of Friends on Climate and Security and the CSM. The event featured a briefing by UNDP on behalf of the CSM and a presentation by adelphi on key findings from the new report on Climate, Peace and Environmental Resilience in the Asia-Pacific Region, which emphasizes the importance of integrating climate into local, national, and regional strategies and fostering technical cooperation and investments for broader engagement.

From 2-5 June, the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) together with DPPA and the CSM as well as the UN System Staff College (UNSSC) organized the third training on CPS programming for Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) Secretariats and implementing partners in Turin. The training primarily targeted practitioners directly involved in programme design and monitoring and evaluation. 25 participants, including UN colleagues from 15 countries, deepened their understanding of the UN’s evolving knowledge base and practical approaches in this area, identified programming opportunities and challenges specific to the PBF, including the opportunity to workshop programmes currently being designed, and explored how to enhance the catalytic and synergetic potential of PBF-supported programmes in this space. They also considered programmes focused on the interface between natural resource management and conflict prevention and peacebuilding.

On 9 July, a Security Council Arria Formula Meeting on "The Global Race for Critical Minerals: Addressing Resource-Driven Insecurity in Africa" was organized by Sierra Leone and co-sponsored by Guyana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia. The meeting examined the evolving geopolitical and security implications of the global race for critical minerals in Africa, and assessed the impact of mineral exploitation on peace, governance, stability, and human rights. See the concept note and watch the video recording.

Publications

• The French and Spanish versions of the 2025 Peacebuilding Fund Thematic Review on Youth, Peace and Security, commissioned by PBSO in partnership with UNFPA, UNICEF and the CSM, and led by UNU-CPR, are now available online
• A Framework for Delivering Climate Action in Settings Affected by Fragility, Conflict, and Violence (World Bank Group, July 2025)
• Water sovereignty as a pathway to food and energy security in Afghanistan (Discover Sustainability, July 2025)
• Russia-Ukraine war has altered the pattern of carbon dioxide emissions from shipping in the Black Sea region (Communications Earth & Environment, July 2025)
• Tipping cascades between conflict and cooperation in climate change (Earth System Dynamics, July 2025)
• From words to action: climate security mainstreaming in EU foreign policy (European Security, July 2025)
• Institutional avenues for addressing climate, peace and security in Southern Africa (CGIAR, July 2025)
• UN Global Risk Report 2024 (UN, July 2025)
• Global Peace Index 2025 (Institute of Economics and Peace, July 2025)
• Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations: Intertwined Crises, Multiple Vulnerabilities (World Bank, July 2025)
• Women’s Resistance to War, Injustice and Environmental Crisis (WILPF, July 2025)
• Transboundary Environments Practitioner Briefing Series - Climate Change, Conflict, & Gender: Insights and Perspectives from the Middle East and North Africa (MEDRC, 2025)
• Environmental peacebuilding as a climate-security priority for the EU – Examples from the Sahel (ecdpm, July 2025). See also this video
• Women’s leadership in environmental peacebuilding: Converging nature, climate, and peace (CCCU Research Space Repository, July 2025)
• Climate Change, Environmental Peacebuilding, and Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism – chapter from the new book titled: Resilience, Peacebuilding, and Preventing Violent Extremism: A Complex Systems Perspective on Sustaining Peace (Routledge, 2025)
• Self-paced online course: Managing Innovation and New Technologies in the Extractive Industries (SDG Academy)

• Development at Risk: Protecting Gains and Unleashing Opportunities Amid Crisis (UNDP, June 2025)
• Guidance Note: Integrating Climate Change into National Action Plans for Women, Peace and Security (UN Women, June 2025). See also this blog post including the video recording of the launch event
• From Commitments to Action: A Year in Review of the Climate and Environment Charter Secretariat (Climate and Environment Charter Secretariat, June 2025)
• The paradox of climate resilience and elusive peace in the Lake Chad Basin: a case for an adaptive governance approach (Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, June 2025)
• Scientific uptake in United Nations Security Council debates on climate change and security (Climatic Change, June 2025)
• Roadmap on Gender, Conflict and Climate: Insights from Research, Advocacy, and Consultation (Women for Women International, June 2025)
• Extreme drought and sexual violence against adolescent girls and young women: A multi-country population-based study (PLOS Global Public Health, June 2025)
• Mapping Refugees’ and IDPs’ Exposure to Climate-related Hazards (Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, June 2025)
• The Heat is On: Climate change poses the single greatest threat to the security and wellbeing of Australians (Australian Peace and Security Forum, June 2025)
• Climate, Peace and Security Fact Sheet: Haiti (NUPI-SIPRI, June 2025)
• From conflict to a climate future: Unraveling the nexus between warfare and environmental degradation (Sustainable Futures, June 2025)
• Climate, environment and human security in Brazil: Response landscape and leadership opportunities (Climate Diplomacy, June 2025)
• Migration, Environment and Climate Change in Yemen (IOM, 2025)
• Human Mobility in the Context of Climate Change, Environmental Degradation and Disaster Risks in Jordan (IOM, 2025)
• Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction - Resilience Pays: Financing and Investing for our Future (UNDRR, 2025)
• Technical Methodology: Climate Finance Vulnerability Index (CliF-VI) (Columbia Climate School National Center for Disaster Preparedness – Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia SIPA, June 2025). See also those press releases: New Index Ranks Vulnerabilities of 188 Nations to Climate Shocks (Rockefeller Foundation, 25 June 2025); Declining Climate Funding Spurs Index of Most Vulnerable Nations (Bloomberg, 25 June 2025); and this blog post: What is the Climate Finance Vulnerability Index (CliF-VI)? (National Center for Disaster Preparedness, 25 June 2025)
• Policy paper: The Future of UN Peacekeeping in a Changing Climate (Global Alliance for Peace Operations, May 2025)
• 2025 – Saving lives, time and money: Evidence from anticipatory action (FAO-OCHA-WFP, May 2025)
• Analysis of Interconnected Climate Security and Violent Extremism Risks: A Practical Guide for Mauritania (UNICRI, May 2025)
• Transboundary water rights and conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa: conflict prevention through functional transboundary river basin institution-building in the Southern African Development Community region (Frontiers in Water, May 2025)
• Forced to Flee in a Changing Climate: Red Cross and Red Crescent action addressing climate and disaster displacement in Africa (IFRC, May 2025)
• Climate and Environment Charter Signatories: 2025 Advocacy Priorities (Climate and Environment Charter Secretariat, May 2025). Find out more information and online resources for humanitarians, including guidance on disaster risk reduction and environmental sustainability, on the Climate Charter website. It includes tools, guides, training opportunities, working groups, communities of practices, technical experts, resource libraries and support desks.
• WFP’s evidence base on Anticipatory Action 2015-2024 (WFP, April 2025)
• Promoting peace and climate resilience in the post-conflict Mindanao region of the Philippines (CGIAR, April 2025)

News, blog posts & recent events

• Q2 2025 update of the Climate Conflict Vulnerability Index (CCVI, July 2025), a tool for tracking where climate risks, conflict risks, and vulnerabilities intersect globally. The full code behind the project is now open source and available here
• The Community of Practice on Environment, Climate, Conflict, and Peace (ECCP) has launched the Learning Series on Climate Security (ECCP, 2025). See recent briefings with CEOBS (4 June), NATO (12 June), OSCE (17 June), and on gender, climate and security (22 July)
• The ECCP Community Fund is open for replenishment, welcoming contributions of all shapes and sizes. Read about the six projects funded through the first round of proposals
• Why sustainable energy is a major opportunity in fragile and conflict-affected settings (UNDP, 31 July 2025)
• Europe’s defence build-up is a climate gamble – here’s how it can course correct (World Economic Forum, 31 July 2025)
• Peacebuilding: The Missing Peace in COP30 Climate Ambition (Toda Peace Institute, 30 July 2025)
• Gambia confronts climate change in a bid to slow youth exodus (UNEP, 29 July 2025)
• Somalia’s New Climate Roadmap as a Blueprint for Peace (New Security Beat, 29 July 2025)
• [In French] L’Afrique en première ligne aux COP : vers un leadership mondial en matière de sécurité climatique (Climate Justice Africa, 28 July 2025)
• Joining Forces for a Conflict-Sensitive Flood Response in South Sudan (UNMISS-DPO-OCHA, 25 July 2025)
• Water wars: a historic agreement between Mexico and US is ramping up border tension (The Conversation, 25 July 2025)
• Can the Military Fight Climate Change? (Lawfare, 25 July 2025)
• International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on the Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change (ICJ, 23 July 2025). See more information here and in these blog posts:

1. World Court says countries are legally obligated to curb emissions, protect climate (UN News, 23 July 2025)
2. In landmark opinion, UN court says climate change an ‘existential threat’ (Al Jazeera, 23 July 2025)
3. World’s top court opens door to compensation from countries responsible for climate crisis (Climate Home News, 23 July 2025)
4. Unpacking the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Climate Change from a Climate Security Perspective (Ecosystem for Peace, 31 July 2025)
5. Historic Climate Ruling at the International Court of Justice: Daily Debrief (Centre for International Environmental Law, 23 July 2025)

• Is Peace Enough? Why Sustainability Requires More Than Stability (Climate Diplomacy, 23 July 2025)
• Secretary-General's remarks on Climate Action "A Moment of Opportunity: Supercharging the Clean Energy Age" (UN, 22 July 2025). During the moderated discussion, the Secretary-General added that “climate change is a factor of insecurity” and a “dramatic accelerator of instability”
• The Erosion of U.S. Infrastructure for the Environmental, Gender, and Peacebuilding Fields (Gender, Natural Resources, Climate, and Peace, 17 July 2025). See also the Spanish version
• In Brazil’s lithium belt, locals fear push to dismantle legal protections (Climate Home News, 17 July 2025)
• Geoengineering: Assessing Risks in the Era of Planetary Security (Carnegie Europe, 16 July 2025)
• In Colombia, Indigenous youth seek to protect land. They have to escape violence to do it (AP, 15 July 2025)
• Harmonising humanitarian assistance/disaster relief in the Bay of Bengal (Planetary Security Initiative, 14 July 2025)
• Gender, Climate and Conflict: Women Building Resilience in Bangladesh’s Fragile Zones: Bangladesh is at the forefront of climate displacement (Daily Sun, 12 July 2025)
• In Myanmar, a rush for rare earth metals is causing a regional environmental disaster (NPR, 12 July 2025)
• Scientists hail rapid estimate of climate change’s role in heat deaths as a first (Climate Home News, 9 July 2025)
• Can India stop Pakistan’s river water — and will it spark a new war? (Al Jazeera, 9 July 2025)
• Climate Security: The Choice Between Short-Term Reactions and Long-Term Solutions (Christophe Hodder, 8 July 2025)
• Lesotho Highlands Water Project: Centre local voices in the climate change, conflict and peacebuilding nexus (Mail and Guardian, 5 July 2025)
• Top Latin American court upholds right to “healthy climate”, urges fossil fuel control (Climate Home News, 4 July 2025). See also the following analysis of this advisory opinion: The Inter-American Court of Human Rights’s Advisory Opinion on the Climate Emergency: An Important Step for Protection of Climate-Displaced Individuals (Centre for Gender and Refugee Studies, July 2025)
• Green Climate Fund reforms aim to fix “slow, cumbersome” accreditation process (Climate Home News, 4 July 2025)
• What Happened on Loss and Damage at the 2025 June Climate Meetings? (Loss and Damage Collaboration, 3 July 2025)
• Mapping for Resilience: How Spatial Data is Transforming Karamoja Cluster (CGIAR, 2 July 2025)
• Out of sight: how can we address climate vulnerability in areas controlled by armed groups? (ODI, 2 July 2025)

• The Economist Foundation and IOM Launch Lesson on Climate Mobility (IOM, 30 June 2025)
• Video: Climate Change: The Migration Story (UN Network on Migration, 30 June 2025)
• The Climate-Space-Security Nexus (Open Access Government, 30 June 2025)
• Podcast: Current affairs: Water diplomacy and climate finance in South and Central Asia (Climate Diplomacy Podcast, 27 June 2025)
• Critical Minerals, Fragile Peace: The DRC-Rwanda Deal and the Cost of Ignoring Root Causes (CSIS, 27 June 2025)
• Climate, conflict and energy security – our research shows how the EU’s industrial policy must change to face this polycrisis (The Conversation, 27 June 2025)
• Event recording: Green Finance: Sustainable Investments in Fragile Environments (IISS, 26 June 2025)
• [In French] Séminaire de l’OBG à Accra au Ghana – Intégrer les enjeux environnementaux dans les opérations de maintien de la paix. Anticiper les crises, freiner les émissions et planifier de manière durable (Observatoire Boutros-Ghali du Maintien de la Paix, 26 June 2025)
• Climate, Peace and Security Group on Libya - Security Council Media Stakeout (UN Web TV, 24 June 2025). See also the related joint press statement on behalf of Denmark, France, Greece, Guyana, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom.
• Open debate of the Security Council: Poverty, underdevelopment, and conflict: implications for the maintenance of international peace and security (UN Web TV, 19 June 2025) including a UNDP briefing referring to addressing the climate crisis through the lens of human security as an investment priority for peace
• Signing of a Cooperation Agreement with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture to Collaborate on the Climate-Peace-Human Mobility Nexus in MENA (IOM, 19 June 2025)
• ISS Live: Can Africa’s youth steer action on climate, peace and security? (ISS, 17 June 2025)
• OSCE workshop fosters regional dialogue on climate change, human mobility, and security in South-Eastern Europe (OSCE, 17 June 2025)
• Syria’s Environmentalists are Calling for Action on Green Recovery (PAX, 13 June 2025)
• Climate Security: Key to Lasting Stability in the Sahel (UNDP, 12 June 2025). See also the French version
• Women on the frontlines: Tackling climate-driven violence at work (Devex, 12 June 2025)
• OSCE Chairpersonship Conference on Climate and Security: Unleashing the Potential of the Comprehensive Approach (OSCE, 11 June 2025)
• Water and peace: As the climate crisis deepens water scarcity and fuels conflict, Somali elders lead efforts in reconciliation (UNDP, 7 June 2025)
• What Role for the OSCE in Addressing the Security Risks of Climate Change? (Climate Diplomacy, 6 June 2025)
• The Missing Climate Factor: Why European Military Interventions in Niger Have Failed (Planetary Security Initiative, 5 June 2025)
• How Air Pollution is Burning Up Iraq’s Future (PAX, 5 June 2025)
• A global minerals trust could prevent inefficient and inequitable protectionist policies: Critical mineral supply and demand require global coordination to reduce market volatility and conflict risk (Science, 5 June 2025)
• The case for thinking politically about climate resilience and adaptation in complex crises (Mauricio Vazquez, 3 June 2025)
• Green Flashpoints: How the Surge in Renewable Energy May Spark a New Era of Global Conflict – Analysis (Eurasia Review, 2 June 2025)
• Op-ed by the UN Secretary-General: UN peacekeepers bring stability to chaos. It's an investment in ending violence (USA Today, 14 May 2025)
• Caribbean Governments Unite to Address Climate Mobility and Human Security (IOM, 6 May 2025)
• Chile and Costa Rica Pilot Test IOM’s New Tool to Measure L&D costs in Displacement and Planned Relocation Scenarios (IOM, 2025)

Upcoming events

Explore the Climate, Peace and Security Trello Board calendar for a collection of forthcoming events.

The UN Climate, Peace and Security Newsletter is brought to you by the Climate Security Mechanism (CSM). The views presented here are those of the original authors and are not necessarily shared by the CSM.

The CSM is a joint initiative by the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Department of Peace Operations (DPO). It aims to strengthen the capacity of the United Nations and its partners to systematically analyze and address the linkages between climate change, peace and security.

For more information, please contact the CSM team at: csm-core@un.org. To share feedback or contributions to the next newsletter, or to (un)subscribe, please contact the CSM Secretariat at: valentin.hervouet@undp.org.

View past editions of the UN CPS Newsletter.