Publications

The following list displays the most recently added publications at the top.

Climate policy needs a new vision

Climate policy needs a new vision
By Asim Zia, Caitlin Waddick

Policies that split mitigation and adaptation don’t work. It’s time for a shift, say Asim Zia and Caitlin Waddick.
 
The climate change policy endorsed by the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and adopted by member countries tends to split into two approaches: mitigation (cutting emissions or ‘soaking up’ carbon pollution) and adaptation (coping with climate change). This holds true across sectors from forest management and agriculture to energy, transportation and city planning. And it makes allocating scarce resources for sustainable and...

Sustainable Sourcing of Phytochemicals as a Development Tool: The Case of Somaliland’s Frankincense Industry

Download Full Publication. Finding paths for ecologically and socially sustainable development in post-conflict regions of Africa poses a tremendous challenge for researchers and practitioners alike. In this study we examine the role the phytochemical sector can play in creating a supply chain for a niche market. We study the frankincense extract sourcing from a remote region of Somaliland and how a diaspora-linked market mechanism for the tree resin can be sustained. Using structured qualitative research methods involving interviews with harvesters and dealers as well as policy-makers, we conclude that trade would not be hampered by environmental conservation. The harvesters would benefit from more...

Transforming the Riparian Border Disputes Between Nicaragua and Costa Rica Through Environmental Peace-building: A Vision for Transboundary Collaboration in Central America

An undergraduate research thesis by Whitney O'Brien supported by IEDS.

Download Full Thesis Here (Note 25MB)

By linking natural resource degradation and conflict, environmental security scholars have begun to raise the political profile of environmental conservation in dispute-prone settings around the world. Linking conservation and conflict resolution, on the other hand, is a less common approach in the field of environmental security. In a world dominated by the nation state paradigm and questions of territoriality, the approach of environmental peace building uses environmental cooperation as a catalyst for political peace building between adversarial nations. While...

Borderlands
The Evolution of the Balkans Peace Park Project (Case Study)

This case study tells the story of the proposed Balkans Peace Park and its genesis and evolution as it progresses from an idea into reality, aspiring towards official Track 1 recognition. Download the case.

Pragmatic Peace
Responsible Mining

Better mining corporations want to adopt “Responsible Mining”. This paper outlines what responsible mining actually is and offers a guide to corporations wanting more information on how to become responsible. Eight principles are outlined, followed by a discussion of No-Go Zones to mining: which sites are off-limits to all mining and why. The Annex on Compensatory Offsets suggests that, on occasion, there may be some exceptions to a No-Go Zone. Download Research Paper Here.

YGL Initiative on Indo-Pak Cooperation

This report provides an account of the first six months of a new initiative by Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum (WEF) from India and Pakistan to address shared risks and improve co-operation. Begun in late-2010, in response to the catastrophic floods that had struck Pakistan, the initiative was formally launched at a conference at LUMS in Lahore, Pakistan, in July 2011. Given its origins of concern at the humanitarian consequences of the floods of July 2010, the initiative began with a focus on underlying issues of climate change, water resource and disaster risk management. Read the report.

Pragmatic Peace
The Ramsar Convention: A new window for environmental diplomacy?

This report, authored by Pamela Griffin, examines the potential of the Ramsar Convention to take a more robust diplomatic role in countries that share transboundary wetlands and have a degree of conflict with one another. A total of 234 transboundary wetlands are listed with the Convention (View Map). Many are located in countries presently experiencing conflict with one another or, at the least, do not trust one another. This report makes some recommendations for enhancing the environmental peace-building nature of the Ramsar Convention. Download Research Paper Here

Ramsar Transboundary Wetlands
Development of the REDD Options Assessment Report: Clarifying an emerging policy concept

This case study, authored by Elise Schadler, tells the story of the REDD Options Assessment Report (OAR), a document developed through a facilitated process to best capture uncertainties around and recommendations for the policy concept of REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). The OAR and those involved with its development have been integral to the inclusion of REDD in the United Nations climate change negotiations. Based on detailed interviews and document analysis, the case reveals the intricacies of international climate change negotiations and the diversity of stakeholder groups and countries involved with moving them forward. Download Case Study Here

Measured mediation
Grand Strategy in the Great Game: Strategic Interests and Objectives of States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

This case study, authored by Fen Wang, tracks the evolutionary development of a growing influential regional organization – The Shanghai Cooperation Organization. In order to understand the organization, a diversity of researchers from both the West and the involved states of the SCO were interviewed. Methods of content comparative analysis of both literature and qualitative interviews were adopted in an integrative manner to provide an analytic document for teaching purposes. Download Case Study Here

Emerald Triangle Forest Complex

This case study, authored by Kimberly Marion Suiseeya, analyzes the challenges and opportunities of working towards cooperative goals in a trans-boundary conservation area. Based on detailed interviews and fieldwork in the region and with the International Tropical Timber Organization, the case is particularly well-suited for students and practitioners interested in working on eco-regional management in sensitive border regions. Download Case Study Here

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