Natural Resources
The exploitation of natural resources is well known to affect the peace and security dynamics through exacerbating existing grievances, motivating greed, and ultimately financing and driving conflict. This exploitation, in addition, is often highly degrading for the surrounding environment and tends to be linked to negative socioeconomic dynamics such as poor benefit sharing practices, exclusion of vulnerable groups, unemployment and lack of livelihood options. Against these problematics, frontier technologies offer significant tools to address them through, for example, the use of Earth Observation for monitoring of exploitation to ensure sustainability and environmental protection, or employing blockchain to ensure benefit-sharing arrangements that contribute to local well-being and development.
Resources
ReImagine Gallery [Multimedia]
Multimedia
The field of environmental peacebuilding has grown rapidly in the past few decades, prompting discussions about its future directions. Questions about the relationship between environmental…
Conflict Coltan, AI Demand and the Risk of Runaway Harm
Blog
Conflict coltan from the DRC is already finding its way into our electronic devices, and rising AI and data centre demand could accelerate harms and…
Technology: Opium Fields Uncovered from Space with 75% Accuracy Using Hyperspectral Imaging and AI
International
“From orbit, an opium poppy field does not necessarily look very different from a field growing a legal crop,” said Kuva Space. “That makes illicit…
Lakes of Kyrgyzstan: Geography, Major Lakes and Alpine Lake Systems [Dataset]
Databases
The structured data behind this guide is available as the Kyrgyzstan Lakes Dataset, an open, source-traceable reference and evidence dataset covering selected lakes, published morphometry,…
Data Centres and Democratic Decline Could Lead to More Water Conflict in the Future
Blog
Transboundary waters — rivers, lakes and aquifers residing in more than one country — are facing challenges due to climate change, with conflicts over these…
How China Can Turn Its ‘Blue Cradle’ into a Bridge with Southeast Asia
Blog
A jointly governed, tiered South China Sea ocean data framework would transform knowledge of a contested sea into stewardship of a shared one.
Somalia: In Somalia, AI Is Helping Deliver Food to Hungry Families
International
Although the UN’s World Food Programme cannot reach all 6 million Somalis facing hunger, data collected by its partners and analysed through AI tools in…
The Great “Green” Heist: When Artificial Intelligence and Arms Dealers Seize the Minerals of the South
Blog
We were sold a simple equation: to save the planet, we must dig. Dig faster, deeper, extracting from the earth the cobalt, lithium, or copper…
WISEN: A Tool for Post-War Environmental Accountability?
Blog
CEOBS’ new Wartime Incidents to Environment Database (WISEN) is a tool for systematically identifying and mapping the environmental harm caused by armed conflicts. In this…
The AI Revolution and Environmental Security: Climate, Natural Resources, and Geopolitical Competition at the Dawn of Artificial Intelligence
Library
AI drives economic growth and technological innovation. However, its rapid expansion depends on resource-intensive infrastructure with hefty environmental costs and geopolitical implications. This briefing analyses…
DRC: Congo Set to Take Advantage of Critical Mineral Boom with Its First-Ever Stock Exchange
International
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is in the process of initiating its inaugural stock exchange, as the emergence of AI is driving demand for…
DRC: DRC Weighs US Proposal to Digitally Map Its Vast Mineral Wealth
International
The Democratic Republic of Congo is reviewing a proposal from US company Dynamic Aviation to modernize the mapping of its mineral resources through advanced aerial…
DRC: Conflict Coltan Used in Technology from Major Brands
International
According to a new investigation released by Global Witness today, tech giants are likely to have sourced minerals tied to conflict in the DRC, as…
South Asia's New Water Conflict Is over Data, Not Dams
Blog
Today the challenge facing the treaty extends beyond water allocation itself. It concerns transparency, compliance and the growing strategic value of information in shared river…
DRC: DRC Uses Geoscience Data to Strengthen Oversight of Mining Sector
International
The Democratic Republic of Congo has launched a new program to strengthen oversight of its mining sector by improving the production and use of geoscientific…
Sudan: Drones Hammer Sudan’s Gold and Oil Zone – the Pivotal New Front Line
International
Intensified drone attacks on the new front line of Sudan’s civil war have led to mass civilian casualties in recent weeks and are increasingly shaping…
Liberia: Digital Mapping Key to Urbanization
International
Geospatial experts in Liberia are urging the government to prioritize digital mapping as a key tool for urban development, saying the technology could transform city…
Monitoring Sudan’s Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining from Space
Blog
Gold is helping fuel the war in Sudan, and its extraction is causing environmental degradation and chemical pollution that threatens human health.
The Blockchain Solution for the World’s Most Problematic Minerals
Blog
Minerals change hands many times as they move from mine to smelter to manufacturer. By the time they reach the company that makes auto parts,…
Fishers' Rights Matter: Mapping Small-Scale Fisheries Landing and Smoking Sites in Liberia to Assess Environmental and Legal Risks to Their Tenure Rights
Library
Liberia’s small-scale fisheries are the backbone of coastal livelihoods, but they face mounting threats from coastal erosion, mangrove destruction, and insecure land rights. Fishing communities’…
Myanmar: Satellite Data Show Burst of Deforestation in Myanmar Rare Earth Mining Hotspots
International
Myanmar’s Kachin state, near the border with China, is a global hub for rare earth minerals. But the dearth of regulations over mining these resources…
Resource Curse in the Age of Critical Minerals: Geopolitical Forces and Market Maturity
Library
The global demand for critical minerals—such as lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements—essential to renewable energy and technology, raises concerns about a modern resurgence of…
Revisiting the Environmental Legacies of the Vietnam War
Library
The 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War provides an opportunity to reflect on the conflict’s enduring scars, from severe ecological damages to…
Africa’s Ascent: Forging a Sovereign AI Future from Mineral Wealth and Human Capital
Library
Africa stands at the confluence of two global megatrends: the digital transformation driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the escalating demand for the critical minerals…
How Weather Stations Are Empowering Farmers and Building Peace in Northwest Nigeria
Blog
For generations, farmers in Nigeria have relied on traditional agricultural practices, their wisdom passed down through time and rooted in cultural traditional knowledge. These methods…
Food Security: FAO Launches the Risk Monitor: A New Early Warning System to Tackle Food Security Risks
International
On the sidelines of the 44th Session of the FAO Conference, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) officially launched the first Food…
Colombia: Ripple and Mercy Corps Launch Blockchain Pilot for Colombian Farmers
International
Ripple Impact has launched its second pilot of the year in partnership with Mercy Corps Ventures and WËIA. This new initiative is being carried out…
DRC: Inside the Mines Fuelling Congo’s Brutal War — and the World’s Tech
International
This is the Rubaya mine in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, an area ravaged by conflict stemming back to the 1994 Rwandan genocide and…
Egypt/Ethiopia/Sudan: How Science Could Resolve Africa’s Largest Water Dispute
International
A new study proposes a science-based policy for operating the Nile River’s mega-dams during prolonged droughts, aiming to balance Ethiopia’s need for hydropower with Egypt’s…
Conflict Minerals: In Data: Mining Disputes Rising amid Rush for Critical Minerals
International
There is growing opposition to the exploitation of critical minerals like cobalt and lithium, according to research by the Institute of Development Studies, a research…