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Can COP26 Meet the Climate and Conflict Challenge?
›Global climate action must be sensitive to ‘land grabs’ and lost livelihoods for both a safer and greener world to be built in Glasgow.
With all eyes on COP26, the world is holding its breath. This year’s negotiations will need to see truly ambitious commitments to ramp up climate action in order to avoid a dangerous future. There has never been a greater sense of the urgency in the climate movement.
As a peacebuilder, I’m looking closely at what the implications of the much-needed pledges might be for the 1.5 billion people living in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. The discussion on the impact of climate change on security and social stability is gaining momentum but is still effectively on the fringes of the COP26 agenda. That is a concern.
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Cities are at the Forefront of Climate Change
›“The success or failure of cities will shape opportunities and quality of life for a growing share of the world’s population,” says the National Intelligence Council in its recent analysis of security risks the world will likely face by 2040. This is especially true for densely populated coastal and low-lying areas. The western United States continues to suffer extreme drought and fires after breaking heat records this summer. China has experienced significant flooding, highlighting its ill-preparedness for dealing with the effects of climate change. Parts of Brazil are suffering drought while others received unexpected snow and ice. Climate-related disasters have nearly doubled over the last two decades, causing over one million fatalities, affecting nearly 4 billion people, and costing almost 3 trillion dollars. At the heart of these impacts are cities.
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Mental Health Conditions: U.S. Policies and Practice to Address the Most Common Complication of Pregnancy and Childbirth
›Maternal mental health (MMH) conditions are the most common complication of pregnancy and childbirth, affecting 1 in 5 women or childbearing individuals (800,000 U.S. families each year). Recent studies show that suicide and overdose combined are the leading cause of death for mothers in the first year postpartum, contributing to the distressingly high maternal mortality rate in the United States. Sadly, 75 percent of those experiencing MMH conditions go untreated, increasing the risk of multigenerational, long-term negative impacts on the physical, emotional, and developmental health of both the mother and child. The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled a three-fold increase in the number of pregnant women and new mothers experiencing MMH conditions. Women of color are disproportionately impacted by both the pandemic and MMH conditions, experiencing both at rates 2-3 times higher than white women.
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Mental Health Conditions Are the Most Common Complication of Pregnancy and Childbirth
›Having a new baby should be the happiest time in a family’s life.
But it doesn’t always work out that way.
During pregnancy or the first year following pregnancy, 1 in 5 women or childbearing people will experience anxiety or depression. In fact, mental health issues are the most common complication of pregnancy and childbirth, turning joy into sadness, loneliness, confusion, regret, and guilt.
I experienced postpartum depression and anxiety after my son was born 20 years ago. We had a very scary emergency C-section. He refused to take a bottle, and I was exhausted and overwhelmed as I struggled to care for a newborn and a toddler. I told my husband I wanted a divorce and ran away from home, truly believing my family would be better off without me. It took almost six months to find the help I needed.
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Achieving SDG 6.2: Adequate and Equitable Sanitation and Hygiene for Who?
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Fully Protecting the World’s Land, Water, and People Through 30 by 30
›To prevent mass extinctions and bolster resilience to climate change, scientists warn that we must protect at least 30 percent of our oceans, lands, rivers, lakes, and wetlands. To safeguard global biodiversity, the “30 by 30” initiative aims to protect 30 percent of land and oceans by 2030. However, commitments on paper are not enough. World leaders must act strategically in implementation to ensure the most crucial ecosystems are protected. Implementation policies for 30 by 30 must also avoid unintentional harm such as exacerbating conflict over resources, excluding Indigenous and local groups from land management, and neglecting environmental protections for the remaining 70 percent of land and oceans.
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Desperate for Hope? Linking Human Well-Being and Climate Solutions is a Way Forward
›If raging wildfires, extreme drought, and superstorms haven’t made it clear, the latest IPCC report tells us in plain language: the world is poised for worsening climate impacts over the next 30 years. The report’s release—during an unprecedented pandemic and natural disasters that magnify the connections between climate, health, livelihoods, and human well-being—is a grim reminder of the fragility of life on Earth. There is hope, however: the winding links between climate, health, and well-being also present tremendous opportunities. What if, collectively, thought leaders, negotiators, practitioners, and policymakers in the climate, health, business, and international development communities could do a better job of advancing solutions that address these crises simultaneously? When climate, poverty alleviation, and human well-being are addressed together, a vision of a better future emerges like a beacon in the night.
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Climate Crisis Exacerbates Military Legacy Contamination
›This summer, climate-induced heat waves ignited landmines and unexploded ordnance buried in the soils around the Middle East, killing people and causing wildfires. Warmer waters are speeding up erosion of sunken battleships laden with degrading munitions. A melting ice sheet on Greenland has exposed thousands of barrels of toxic waste at abandoned U.S. military bases.
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