Logo: to the web site of Uppsala University

How does the climate crisis relate to global security issues? What impact do increasing temperatures, droughts, sea level rises and extreme weather have on borders, war, migration and unrest?

This nuanced, urgent book cuts into the heart of this relationship, packed with global examples, from glacier movements destabilizing borders, to misinformation driving political apathy around the climate. You will encounter new, provocative ideas such as the carbon footprint of the military, the pressing need for the Global South to adapt, not blame, and the need for strong and visionary leadership in climate negotiations.

Situated on the cutting edge of the climate debate, this book will revolutionize your perspective on global security, challenge deep-rooted assumptions and ignite your critical thinking.

The detrimental impacts of wars on human development are well documented across research domains, from public health to micro-economics. However, these impacts are studied in compartmentalized silos, which limits a comprehensive understanding of the consequences of conflicts, hampering our ability to effectively sustain human development. This article takes a first step in addressing this gap by reviewing the literature on conflict impacts through the lens of an inter-disciplinary theoretical framework. We review the literature on the consequences of conflicts across 9 dimensions of human development: health, schooling, livelihood and income, growth and investments, political institutions, migration and displacement, socio-psychological wellbeing and capital, water access, and food security. The study focuses on both direct and indirect impacts of violence, reviews the existing evidence on how impacts on different dimensions of societal wellbeing and development may intertwine, and suggests plausible mechanisms to explain how these connections materialize. This exercise leads to the identification of critical research gaps and reveals that systematic empirical testing of how the impacts of war spread across sectors is severely lacking. By streamlining the literature on the impacts of war across multiple domains, this review represents a first step to build a common language that can overcome disciplinary silos and achieve a deeper understanding of how the effects of war reverberate across society. This multidisciplinary understanding of conflict impacts may eventually help to reconcile divergent estimates and enable forward-looking policies that minimize the costs of war.

The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, is a landmark international accord designed to combat climate change by limiting global warming to below 2°C, with an aspirational goal of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels (UNFCCC, 2015). The United States played a crucial role in drafting and promoting the agreement under the Obama administration. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the accord for a second time on the first day of his second term marks a significant reversal in global climate leadership (The White House, 2025).We, the editors of the “Environment and Security” journal, explore the ramifications of the U.S. exit from the Paris Agreement, focusing on four key areas: (1) the impact on global climate governance, (2) economic consequences for the United States, (3) domestic environmental vulnerabilities, and (4) national security and geopolitical concerns. In addition, we delve into the broader implications for international security, trade relations, and long-term policy continuity and urge the Trump administration to reconsider its decision.

Socio-hydrology strives to incorporate 'the social' into the understanding of hydrological processes, aiming to enrich the analysis of water systems by considering human interactions. While there is a broader interest in integrating socio-political processes into hydrology, our paper specifically emphasizes the significant contributions of peace and conflict research to understanding the complex social dynamics surrounding water. We conduct a brief review of key literature on interstate water sharing, international norms on water, and domestic water disputes, drawing extensively from empirical studies within peace and conflict research—a field with a rich tradition of examining the interplay of water systems and social dynamics. Building on this foundation, we propose ways to weave insights from peace research, especially environmental peacebuilding, into the realm of socio-hydrology. We also highlight the crucial role of power, politics, and social factors in shaping water-related interactions and conflicts. By fostering a dialogue between socio-hydrology and peace and conflict research, we advocate for a more nuanced understanding of water management and governance. This interdisciplinary approach, we argue, is essential for promoting sustainable and equitable water use, and for addressing the challenges posed by water-related conflicts in a rapidly changing global context.

This article examines the multifaceted challenges posed by the current global conflict landscape, emphasizing the interconnectedness of development, security, and peace. Firstly, the article highlights the increase in both state and non state conflicts, with fatalities nearly doubling from 2021 to 2022. This escalation is marked by significant conflicts like the Russia–Ukraine war and the Tigray conflict in Ethiopia, contributing to the deterioration of global security. The analysis also touches on the failure of regional and international organizations such as the African Union, ASEAN, and the United Nations in effectively managing these conflicts and maintaining peace. Secondly, the article delves into the evolving nature of warfare, including the rise of digital attacks and hybrid warfare, which blend conventional and unconventional tactics. This section underscores the need for a new, comprehensive peace architecture to address the array of modern threats, including climate change and pandemics, which extend beyond traditional military concerns. Finally, the article discusses the concerning decline of anti-war movements in the West, particularly in light of recent conflicts like the Ukraine war. This decline is attributed to various factors, including the perception of Western military actions as inherently benevolent and the shift in activism focus to issues like climate change and social justice. The article argues that this decline has profound implications for democratic processes and the global pursuit of peace.

The 'decade of action' intended to accomplish the ambitious 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) faces notable challenges. Our investigation into the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on SDG progress reveals important lessons for shaping effective policy interventions to ensure resilient societies and overall well-being. Through systematic mapping and a rapid review approach, our analysis reveals that nearly 90% of the SDGs, specifically 144 targets, were adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, there is a glimmer of opportunity: 66 targets stand to gain from the crisis-induced transformations, provided that the right choices are made. Achieving this goal demands a comprehensive approach and decisive leadership to steer an inclusive economic recovery that also safeguards the environment while safeguarding the environment. The intricate interplay between the ongoing planetary and post-COVID-19 crises, environmental challenges, and conflicts underscores the need for a proactive, deliberate and well-informed approach, marked by collaborative decision-making, which is imperative for effectively steering the 'decade of action' toward achieving the SDGs. These complex challenges demand collective, decisive action, all with the overarching aim of securing a just and sustainable future for all.

 Our complex, globalized world has created an environment that presents new challenges to countries striving for peace and security. While inter-state wars have become less frequent in the last 50 years, civil wars have become more common and intractable. Today the number of internal armed conflicts is rising, and fatalities are also increasing after years of decline (Davies et al., 2022). Genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and various human rights violations continue to endanger peace and security subnationally, nationally, regionally, and globally. Racism and xenophobia are being used to divide people and societies; and rising political and social polarization is leading to violence in many countries or regions (Piazza, 2022). At the same time, geopolitical tensions between states continue or are even on the rise. Moreover, broader security issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, large-scale human migration, food and water scarcity, and global pandemics have posed serious challenges for countries seeking to achieve peace and security (Swain, 2012; Swain & Jägerskog, 2016). These nonmilitary issues are also interrelated, and a challenge for one country or region has often become a threat to others.

 This Forum article reports on a meta-review of more than 19,000 published works on water security, of which less than 1 percent explicitly focus on race or ethnicity. This is deeply concerning, because it indicates that race and ethnicity—crucial factors that affect the provision of safe, reliable water—continue to be ignored in academic and policy literatures. In response to this finding the Forum calls for building intersectional water security frameworks that recognize how empirical drivers of social and environmental inequality vary both within and across groups. Intersectional frameworks of water security can retain policy focus on the key material concerns regarding access, safety, and the distribution of water-related risks. They can also explicitly incorporate issues of race and ethnicity alongside other vectors of inequality to address key, overlooked concerns of water security.Water security scholarship almost uniformly excludes an explicit treatment of race or ethnicity. This is a critical issue, because without an adequate account of water security’s relationships to race and ethnicity, crucial factors affecting the provision of safe, reliable water will continue to go unaddressed. In response to this exclusion, we call for intersectional analyses of water security as an anti-oppressive approach that can orient academic and policy analysis to multiple dimensions of inequality and insecurity, including ones dependent on ethnic and racial discrimination.This Forum article proceeds in two steps. First, it highlights the limited attention given to race and ethnicity within water security scholarship. It does so by reporting and discussing the findings from a meta-review of water security scholarship, where less than 1 percent of that scholarship explicitly references factors of race or ethnicity. Second, it makes the case for an intersectional framing of water security. A core concern of an intersectional approach is an understanding that differences of race, gender, class, ethnicity, and other aspects of inequality vary within groups and among them (Crenshaw 1991). To treat categories of race, ethnicity, gender, or class as singular or homogenous is inadequate to the task of empirically specifying water inequalities. We argue for an intersectional framing that combines the strength of wider studies on race, ethnicity, gender, poverty, and vulnerability in ways that enhance accounts of, and policy responses to, water security. In so doing, we follow and support the small number of water scholars calling for greater attention to the multiple and interacting vulnerabilities that shape experiences of water insecurity (e.g., Sultana 2020; Gerlak et al. 2022).

Water is essential for human life and at the centre of political, economic, and socio-cultural development. This Routledge Handbook of Water and Development offers a systematic, wide-ranging, and state-of-the-art guide to the diverse links between water and development across the globe. It is organized into four parts:

Part I explores the most significant theories and approaches to the relationship between water and development

Part II consists of carefully selected in-depth case studies, revealing how water utilization and management are deeply intertwined with historical development paths and economic and socio-cultural structures

Part III analyses the role of governance in the management of water and development

Part IV covers the most urgent themes and issues pertaining to water and development in the contemporary world, ranging from climate change and water stress to agriculture and migrationThe 32 chapters by leading experts are meant to stimulate researchers and students in a wide range of disciplines in the social and natural sciences, including Geography, Environmental Studies, Development Studies, and Political Science. The Handbook will also be of great value to policymakers and practitioners.