Ratia Tekenet
Ratia Tekenet is the Staff intern for the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program. She will be supporting the award-winning blog, New Security Beat. She is a second-year graduate student studying Global Governance, Politics and Security at the School of International Service at American University.
Her research interests focus on the nexus between governance, environment, and conflict. Ratia was previously based at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, where her work focused on global environmental policy, strategic communications, and multilateral environmental engagement.
-
Geoengineering and Notions of Sovereignty: A Wilson Center NOW Interview with Beth Chalecki
›As climate change impacts become starker, interest in geoengineering is growing. Geoengineering is “climate manipulation technologies that we can use to alter the climate to offset the worst parts of climate change,” says Beth Chalecki, Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Nebraska Omaha, and Research Fellow at the Wilson Center, in a recent episode of Wilson NOW. “It sounds like a technological fix, but of course it’s not that simple,” says Chalecki.
-
The Top 5 Posts of April 2021
›Water diplomacy has brought increased attention to both water governance and water-related challenges and risks. Women’s leadership in water governance remains a salient issue as the field strives to bridge the gender gap. In this month’s top post, Marisa O. Ensor finds that while the field remains male-dominated, recent events and related publications contribute to bridging this persistent gender gap.
-
Translating Urgency Into Action on Water, Climate, and Security
›“We need to devote our full attention to the relationship between water, climate, and security, increase understanding of the issue, and take urgent action,” said Carola van Rijnsoever, Director of Inclusive Green Growth at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a recent Hague roundtable on building a transatlantic coalition for climate action on water and security challenges in countries of risk.
-
Developing a Shared Narrative on Climate Change, Fragility, and Peacebuilding
›“Addressing the link between climate, conflict, and environment is a critical piece of the new USG framework for addressing fragility, and, as the Biden administration scales up its efforts to center climate change in its foreign policy and national security agendas, it’s going to be essential to consider the linkages between climate action and opportunities to build peace,” said Joe Hewitt, Vice President at the U.S. Institute of Peace during a recent event co-hosted by the Wilson Center and the U.S. Institute of Peace on the importance of integrating climate change responses, conflict prevention efforts, and peacebuilding.
-
Embracing Risk: Lessons Learned from Integrating Climate Adaptation and Biodiversity Conservation in Nepal
›The Hariyo Ban Program is one of the best examples of a sustainable development initiative that I’ve ever seen, said Nik Sekhran, Chief Conservation Officer of the World Wildlife Fund-US during a recent Wilson Center event on lessons learned from a decade of building resilience through participatory and inclusive natural resource management, climate adaptation, and biodiversity conservation in Nepal.
-
Going Big on Climate: Opportunities and Challenges Facing the New Administration
›“With climate change, we can make no small plans—we need to go big,” said Lieutenant General Wallace Gregson (ret.), former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, during a recent event co-hosted by the Environmental Peacebuilding Association and Wilson Center on opportunities and challenges facing the new administration relating to the environment, peace, and conflict.
-
Experts Spotlight Bottom-Up Approaches and the Impacts of Conflict on Infrastructure in the Next Wave of Environmental Peacebuilding
›“For 30 years, a community of researchers, practitioners, and policymakers have been working to untangle the complex relationships between environmental change and human and national security, and find entry points for policies and programs that build on these connections to create a more resilient and sustainable peace,” said Lauren Risi, Project Director of the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change & Security Program at a recent event that featured contributors to a new special issue of International Affairs on environmental peacebuilding.