The past and future(s) of environmental peacebuilding

TLDR

Environmental peacebuilding, a rapidly growing field at the intersection of environment, conflict, peace, and security, is increasingly important as the environment remains a core issue of international politics amid persistent armed conflicts. The article introduces a special issue that emphasizes environmental opportunities for building and sustaining peace. The authors outline definitions, theoretical assumptions, and intellectual background of environmental peacebuilding, review core findings and debates of its first two generations, and identify knowledge gaps for the next generation—including bottom‑up approaches, gender, conflict‑sensitive programming, big data, frontier technology, and monitoring and evaluation.

Abstract

Abstract Environmental peacebuilding is a rapidly growing field of research and practice at the intersection of environment, conflict, peace and security. Focusing on these linkages is crucial in a time when the environment is a core issue of international politics and the number of armed conflicts remains high. This article introduces a special issue with a particular emphasis on environmental opportunities for building and sustaining peace. We first detail the definitions, theoretical assumptions and intellectual background of environmental peacebuilding. The article then provides context for the special issue by briefly reviewing core findings and debates of the first two generations of environmental peacebuilding research. Finally, we identify knowledge gaps that should be addressed in the next generation of research, and to which the articles in this special issue contribute: bottom-up approaches, gender, conflict-sensitive programming, use of big data and frontier technology, and monitoring and evaluation.