• New CSM & UNSSC Podcast Explores Climate, Peace and Security Across West Africa

    New CSM & UNSSC Podcast Explores Climate, Peace and Security Across West Africa

    On 11 August 2026, the CSM & UNSSC Climate, Crisis and Courage podcast released its fifth episode, “West Africa: Climate Change, Governance and Security Across a Connected Region”, featuring a discussion of key findings from a forthcoming UNEP-led Integrated Assessment of Climate-Related Risks for Peace and Security in the Gulf of Guinea Region. Conducted under the EU-UNEP Partnership on Climate Change, Environment, Peace & Security, in collaboration with UNOWAS and UNOCA, the assessment takes a cross-regional perspective of 18 coastal and island nations to understand how climate change affects and links to peace and security in the Gulf of Guinea. 

    In the episode, podcast host Nazanine Moshiri brings together three experts to explore how climate change interacts with peace, security and governance challenges across West Africa, and why effective responses require looking beyond national borders.  

    Ibrahim Yahya, Deputy Director of the Sahel Project at the International Crisis Group, opens the discussion by sharing how climate pressures converge with deeply rooted governance and security challenges in the Sahel to increase insecurity, instability and political tensions. He warns that climate, peace and security challenges in the Sahel risk spilling into neighboring coastal states and emphasizes that solutions must integrate a regional perspective.   

    Next, Mira Gratier, lead author of the forthcoming UNEP assessment of the Gulf of Guinea region, discusses the assessment’s key findings, explaining how climate change and environmental degradation interact with conflict risk in interlocking ways to erode livelihoods and weaken state legitimacy as well as reshape mobility, borders, and the lives of women and young people. 

    Gratier uses mobility as an example of these complex feedback loops: climate and environmental pressures, such as increased natural resource competition and declining fish stocks, are fundamentally changing mobility patterns that have long been an essential part of livelihoods and economic life across West and Central Africa. In turn, this climate-related mobility exacerbates instability by creating new governance, urban planning and service provision challenges.

    Gratier notes that the assessment aims to support greater alignment between regional strategies on climate resilience and conflict prevention in the Gulf of Guinea by identifying entry points at community, national, regional, and multilateral levels where climate and peacebuilding objectives can be aligned as part of development planning. Additionally, the assessment offers programmatic recommendations, which center on three cross-cutting shifts: (i) integrating climate and environmental factors into conflict management and peacebuilding; (ii) embedding conflict-responsiveness and peace-positive objectives into climate programmes; and (iii) building interoperable mechanisms for early warning, disaster preparedness and response. 

    Lastly, the episode turns to Tanya Merceron, the Climate, Peace, and Security Advisor at the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), who emphasizes the need to work at the local level to develop community-based early warning systems. She also highlights the potential for regional cooperation and South-South learning based on a common understanding that climate, peace and security risks are shared across West Africa.  

    Listen to the episode to hear the full conversation and look out for the upcoming release of the Integrated Assessment of Climate-Related Risks for Peace and Security in the Gulf of Guinea Region.  

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  • Launch of the PROAACT initiative to advance locally led actions on climate, peace and stability across South Asia

    Launch of the PROAACT initiative to advance locally led actions on climate, peace and stability across South Asia

    Kathmandu, Nepal | 24 April 2026

    Inception meeting and Training of Trainers (ToT) Workshop. Promoting Anticipatory Actions to Address Climate and Environmental Risks for Community Transformation (PROAACT) on April 22-24, 2026, Kathmandu, Nepal.
    Photo: Jitendra Raj Bajracharya/ICIMOD.

    The European Union-funded Promoting Anticipatory Actions to Address Climate and Environmental Risks for Community Transformation (PROAACT) initiative was officially launched this week in Kathmandu, Nepal, bringing together government representatives, regional partners, and civil society organizations from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan.

    The inception meeting marks the start of a regional effort to strengthen community resilience to climate and environmental risks while promoting social cohesion and stability across South Asia. The meeting was followed by a Training of Trainers workshop from 23–24 April 2026, aimed at equipping local actors with the tools and methodologies to implement participatory, locally led anticipatory action approaches for peace and stability.

    During the launch event, Mr. Saroj Kumar Chaudhary, Deputy Director General at the Department of Environment under the Ministry of Forest and Environment, Nepal noted that: “the climate crisis is accelerating and our old ways of working are no longer sufficient. It is a crisis of inequality. Anticipatory action, therefore, is an act of justice. Let us make PROAACT a model for how we face an uncertain future with courage, preparedness, and solidarity.”

    Ms. Geertrui Louwagie, Deputy Head of Cooperation and Team Leader at the Delegation of the European Union to Nepal added that: “in the face of the values and principles that we apply under our Global Gateway strategy, it is even more important that we keep supporting initiatives like PROAACT– in which several strands that are of critical importance for us as humans, converge.”

    The event also convened representatives from eight local civil society organizations selected through an open call for proposals to implement activities in identified climate vulnerability hotspots across the three target countries. These organizations will play a central role in facilitating community-level action and fostering locally driven solutions.

    South Asia faces increasing challenges from compounding climate variability, environmental degradation, and socio-ecological pressures affecting livelihoods, social cohesion, and ecosystem stability. PROAACT responds to these challenges by strengthening anticipatory capacity and fostering collaboration at local, national and regional levels.

    The initiative will focus on priority areas identified through a scoping study, including Sindhupalchowk, Dhading, and Rolpa in Nepal; Satkhira, Nawabganj, and Shariatpur in Bangladesh; and Astore and Swat in Pakistan.

    About PROAACT

    The PROAACT initiative is part of the broader partnership between the European Union and UNEP on Climate, Environment and Peace, established in 2017. This partnership aims to strengthen national and regional capacities to identify and address climate- and environment-related risks, and to support the implementation of effective risk reduction and response measures. By bringing together environmental, development and peacebuilding expertise, the partnership supports integrated approaches that address the complex interlinkages between climate change, environmental degradation and stability.

    PROAACT will be implemented from 2025 to 2027, with a focus on testing innovative, participatory, and peace-oriented locally led approaches. Lessons learned will inform the scaling and replication of solutions within and across the three target countries, as additional resources are mobilised.

    Partnership and collaboration

    PROAACT is implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme in partnership with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) as the regional implementing partner for South Asia, with financial support from the European Union.

    The initiative is carried out in close coordination with the Delegation of the European Union to Nepal, the Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh, and the Delegation of the European Union to Pakistan.

    PROAACT is further implemented in close cooperation and alignment with the governments of the three target countries, including the Ministry of Forests and Environment (Nepal), the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Bangladesh), and the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination (Pakistan).

  • EU and UNEP Support Local Communities in Leading Own Nature-Based Actions for Climate Resilience and Social Cohesion in Central Asia

    EU and UNEP Support Local Communities in Leading Own Nature-Based Actions for Climate Resilience and Social Cohesion in Central Asia

    PRESS RELEASE

    EU and UNEP Support Local Communities in Leading Own Nature-Based Actions for Climate Resilience and Social Cohesion in Central Asia

    Under the EU-funded regional initiative “Facilitating region-specific approaches to addressing climate and environment-related risks for peace and socioeconomic stability in Central Asia,” eight local civil society organizations were selected in August 2025, through a competitive call for proposals, to support implementation of community led efforts. Building on this, beneficiary communities in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan identified and prioritized 17 locally led adaptation measures through comprehensive community consultations held from October to December 2025.

    Developed  in dialogue with local authorities and community groups, the measures respond to interconnected climate, environmental and socioeconomic related challenges across the Ferghana Valley—a climate hotspot facing increasing drought and heat, water scarcity, land degradation, biodiversity loss, and growing risks from extreme events such as floods and dust storms. These environmental pressures are also linked to socioeconomic stress, including competition over land and water, reduced agricultural productivity, limited employment opportunities, and pressures driving involuntary migration and family strain.

    A portfolio centred on nature-based solutions

    The measures prioritise ecosystem restoration and sustainable natural resource management as pathways to both climate resilience and social cohesion and stability.

    The portfolio includes:

    • 6 measures focusing on agroforestry, green infrastructure and ecosystem restoration, including shelterbelts, protective forest belts, eco-parks, nurseries and restoration of degraded landscapes;
    • 6 measures on climate-resilient water resources management, including watershed restoration, rehabilitation of irrigation canals through vegetative stabilization, community reservoirs with nature-based buffer zones, water harvesting systems, and participatory water governance mechanisms;
    • 4 measures promoting climate-smart agriculture and nature-based livelihoods, including restoration of degraded lands, drought-resistant crops, pollinator support through beekeeping, vermicomposting, and climate-resilient greenhouse production;
    • 1 measure dedicated to pasture and rangeland restoration, including vegetation recovery and ecosystem-based water retention solutions.

    All projects integrate participatory approaches and local governance mechanisms to ensure transparent and equitable resource management.

    Expected impact: reducing tensions, strengthening resilience

    The initiatives are designed to reduce tensions linked to scarce land and water resources, arising from climate change, while strengthening livelihoods, and enhancing trust and cooperation between communities and local stakeholders. By restoring ecosystems — from watersheds and canals to orchards, pastures and protective forest belts — the measures aim to enhance soil moisture retention, stabilize slopes, reduce erosion, protect water quality, improve microclimates, and increase biodiversity. At the same time, they create employment opportunities, support women- and youth-led initiatives, and strengthen community cooperation through Hashar (traditional community collective work), as well as community dialogue around shared natural resources.

    Following validation of the consolidated list, local civil society organisations engaged in the Partnership will now move into the implementation phase.

    Partnership Background

    The EU and UNEP established a partnership in 2017 to strengthen the capacity of countries and partners to identify environment and climate-related risks for peace and stability at global, national and community levels, and to develop nature-based solutions to respond to these challenges. Now in its second phase (2022–2027), the Partnership expands across multiple regions, including Central Asia, where it focuses on the Ferghana Valley, home to millions of people who depend on irrigated agriculture and livestock for their livelihoods and who are increasingly affected by climate change and water scarcity.

    This regional initiative is fully funded by the European Union, with technical assistance from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and is implemented by the Scientific Information Centre of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (SIC ICWC) as the regional implementing partner. Implementation is carried out in close coordination with the European Union Delegation to the Kyrgyz Republic, the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Tajikistan.