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Environmental Security Weekly Watch | July 14-18
›A window what we’re reading at the Stimson Center’s Environmental Security Program
The World’s Children Face the Most Severe Impacts from Wildfire Smoke (Mongabay)
Evidence of the alarming impacts of wildfire smoke on child health is growing. Children’s developing lungs, faster breathing rates, and greater outdoor exposure make them uniquely vulnerable, and the threat is intensifying as wildfires grow more extreme, incinerating not just forests but urban areas, releasing toxic heavy metals and chemicals.
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Damming the River by Feeling the Stones: China’s Mekong Hydropower Strategy
›For decades, China has been the dominant force in hydropower development across the Mekong subregion, financing, and constructing massive dam projects that have transformed Southeast Asia’s economic and environmental landscape. Many analysts have framed this expansion as a meticulously orchestrated strategy to extend Beijing’s economic and geopolitical influence. But this narrative obscures a more complex reality—one in which China’s dam-building in the Mekong has been shaped by trial and error, reactive policy shifts driven by external shocks, local resistance, and intensifying geopolitical competition.
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Is Peace Enough? Why Sustainability Requires More Than Stability
›July 15, 2025 // By Richard MarcantonioAround the world, conflict and environmental risks are on the rise – and they’re often connected in complex ways. In the past five years alone, the number of global conflicts has doubled. At the same time, human activity is pushing the planet beyond the ‘safe operating space’, increasing the risk of instability.
Researchers studying the links between conflict and environmental change have found that war and violence almost always harm the environment. But the reverse connection – whether environmental stress leads to conflict – is much harder to pin down. That’s because political systems, local institutions, and social dynamics often shape how environmental pressures play out.
Findings from recent studies suggest that sustainability and peace are positively correlated. In other words, the results suggest that peace and sustainability go hand in hand. If true, pursuing one could help achieve the other. But what if it’s not that simple?
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Environmental Security Weekly Watch | July 7 – 11
›A window into what we’re reading at the Stimson Center’s Environmental Security Program
Heat-Related Deaths May Have Tripled during Europe’s Heat Wave (Washington Post)
A record-breaking heat wave in late June and early July pushed temperatures well above 100°F across Europe. Analysis from Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that of the 2,300 heat-related deaths in 12 major European cities between June 23 and July 2, 1,500 would not have occurred without the additional 1.3°C of warming caused by climate change.
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Three Takeaways From the Third UN Ocean Conference
›July 10, 2025 // By Carolyn Gruber“There cannot be a healthy planet without a healthy ocean. It’s urgent business for us all,” said U.N. special envoy for the ocean, Peter Thomson, at last month’s UN Ocean Conference (UNOC).
Hosted in Nice, France, the conference brought together more than 15,000 political leaders, scientists, civil society, the private sector, academic institutions, Indigenous peoples, local communities, and philanthropic organizations with the goal of identifying innovative ways to finance and mobilize action for the ocean.
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China’s Off-grid Solar Home Systems Light Up Lives in Sub-Saharan Africa
›China and the Global Energy Transition // China Environment Forum // Guest Contributor // July 10, 2025 // By Charles MpakaIn a rural, hard-to-reach area of Blantyre district in southern Malawi, Ephraim Louis cannot imagine where his life would be without the solar panel on the roof of his house. “I am not a captive of darkness anymore,” says Louis, 42. “It’s been more than 10 years since I installed this [solar panel] system. We still don’t have the main grid anywhere near us and no one here thinks it will ever come.”
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The Dangerous Distraction of Population Decline Alarmism
›July 9, 2025 // By Kathleen MogelgaardAs headlines warn of falling birth rates and a “world gone gray,” a more urgent and overlooked story is unfolding: in too many places, women and girls are still being failed – with profound consequences for human health, economic growth, and sustainable development.
This week will mark the 35th World Population Day, a day established to focus attention on how population trends – growth, decline, migration, urbanization – shape our shared future. These dynamics influence everything from natural resource use and governance models to, over time, relationships among nations. Understanding where and how populations are changing allows us to plan more effectively and strategically for the future, and to steward our resources toward development success that can be truly sustained.
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New Security Beat Finds a New Home
›July 8, 2025 // By Lauren Herzer RisiIn the wake of last week’s devastating floods in Central Texas, and with the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on the horizon, new data underscores a sobering trend: extreme weather events are becoming even more intense, more severe, and more frequent. At the same time, the very institutions and experts responsible for predicting and preparing for these rising threats are under threat themselves.
The Trump administration has significantly reduced or eliminated programs — like my former home, the Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP) at the Wilson Center — that worked to address and communicate the climate challenges we face. Today, however, I’m pleased to announce that ECSP’s work, including the New Security Beat, has found a new home.