Rebecca Sargent at a piece of conflict has been reading CLIMATE CHANGE, CONFLICT AND FRAGILITY – Understanding the linkages, shaping effective responses, a report by Dan Smith and Janani Vivekananda of International Alert. (It’s from November 2009 and a copy of it has been waiting on my hard disk for me to read it for…
The Yes Men adbusts Chevron greenwash
A day-long comedy of errors began when the Yes Men, supported by Rainforest Action Network and Amazon Watch, pre-empted Chevron’s enormous new “We Agree” ad campaign with a satirical version of their own. The activists’ version highlights Chevron’s environmental and social abuses – the same abuses they say Chevron is attempting to “greenwash.” From the…
Water wars!… or climate peace?
Two climate change stories: one driving African tribes into new conflict and another leading old foes on a shared diplomatic course. The conflict For thousands of years, nomadic herdsmen have roamed the harsh, semi-arid lowlands that stretch across 80 percent of Kenya and 60 percent of Ethiopia. […] As temperatures in the region have risen…
“Rebel access to [natural] resources crucially shapes armed civil conflict”
How does rebel access to natural resources affect conflict? “How“. Not “if“. That is the question investigated by Päivi Lujala of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, recently published in the Journal of Peace Research. Or rather: Where previous research has either suggested a link or sought to explain it by an indirect effect…
How many people can live on Planet Earth? Watch this BBC documentary!
Whether you’re discussing water resources, food security, climate change, migration, developing countries or pretty much any geopolitical or human ecological topic there is one other topic often avoided: Overpopulation. Watch this 58 minute BBC documentary on YouTube. Regarding “Ecowar relevance” the following parts are especially interesting. 14 min: Value of ecosystem services Doug Hamilton, International…
A Crude Awakening (four years late)
Predating the first post at this present blog by about 13 months in 2006 the documentary A Crude Awakening warned of the implications of oil soon running out. From Wikipedia’s section “Findings”, my emphasis: overall conclusions were that a global peak was imminent (if not already occurring), more wars would be fought to control access…
Moscow Arctic Forum promises peaceful exploitation, silent on risks
This week the “Arctic nations” – Canada, Russia, Norway, the United States and Denmark – met in Moscow to agree on territorial claims. (Strangely, I didn’t notice any coverage at all in Danish media – while even Al-Jazeera warmed up for it.) “Serious political and economic interests are indeed crossing over in the Arctic. But…
Fresh Peak Oil warnings from German military and British government agency
Spiegel Online / ‘Peak Oil’ and the German Government – Military Study Warns of a Potentially Drastic Oil Crisis: A study by a German military think tank has analyzed how “peak oil” might change the global economy. The internal draft document — leaked on the Internet — shows for the first time how carefully the…
Food & War: Highlights from ‘An Edible History of Humanity’
Have been reading An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage. Good reading I can recommend! You will find it interesting too if you, like me, is into Jared Diamond’s books, agriculture or the more practical aspects of history. It is written in an accessible form and not quite as academic in nature as Diamond’s…
Japanese oil tanker hit by suicide bomber in Strait of Hormuz
The United Arab Emirates said Friday that a Japanese oil tanker was hit by an explosives-laden dinghy in the Persian Gulf in what would be the first attack in the strategic waterway where millions of barrels of oil are transported each day. The report — which came days after an al-Qaida-linked group claimed responsibility for…
Russia: Unknown People in Masks and Police Attack Environmentalists
As seen on Global Voices: Russia: Unknown People in Masks and Police Attack Environmentalists From 20 to 40 young people in white masks attacked the camp of the defenders of the Khimki forest park [RUS], Igor Podgorny [RUS] and Novaya Gazeta [RUS] reported. The police intervention didn’t help – instead several environmentalists and journalists were…
Fox News too busy to support the troops
According to Politico Fox News rejected an ad linking oil consumption with troop deaths. I’d like to try and make up for (a millionth of) that so here it is:Fox News, however, are excused as they have been busy reporting other “breaking news”: Must be a tough job breaking a celebrity drug scandal while the…