A window into what we are reading at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program

Southern Africa’s Drought Offers a Window into the Region’s Climate Future

Southern Africa has been hit by one of its worst droughts in decades, and this calamity highlights the vulnerability of smallholder farmers who rely on rainfed agriculture. For the first time, farmers like Esnart Chogani, who works on a farm just outside Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, were unable to bring in a harvest. The region is normally a major exporter of maize, yet it now has begun importing the grain to meet demand.

Human-produced pollution is the single leading cause of mortality today, yet it is not widely considered a form of violence. On July 28, 2022, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted—with 161 in favor and eight abstentions—that living in a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a human right. Building on a similar declaration by the United Nations Human Rights Council in October 2021, the UNGA has now reinforced the notion that the growing assaults on human health through environmental hazards are transgressions against the basic rights and freedoms of people. Efforts to create a human right to a healthy planet, and even a planetary right to health that would signifying potential rights of nature, are growing both in real activity and demand.

UN World Wildlife Crime Report Reveals Harm of Wildlife Trafficking (UN Office on Drugs and Crime)

In the third World Wildlife Crime Report, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) discussed trends in illicit trafficking of protected species, analyzed wildlife crime harms and impacts, and took stock of all current knowledge on intervention effectiveness. This report is more comprehensive than its predecessors in 2016 and 2020 due to increased reporting. Despite 20 years of effort, wildlife trafficking persists and is connected with powerful organized crime groups operating in fragile ecosystems. This has implications not only for the spread of organized crime, but also for biodiversity loss and subsequent impacts on climatic fragility.

Historically, efforts to mitigate climate change have taken precedence over building resilience to its impacts. But from Pakistan to the Amazon, communities on the front lines are already experiencing the devastating effects of a warming world.

In recent weeks, devastating floods have claimed the lives of over 450 people in East Africa, as heavy rains linked to El Niño and changing climate patterns overwhelmed communities and infrastructure. Similar tragedies unfolding in Brazil, Pakistan, and Afghanistan underscore the human cost of being unequipped to protect against the worst impacts of climate change.

A window into what we are reading at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program

2024 World Migration Report Highlights Climate-Food-Mobility Nexus (International Organization for Migration)

The International Organization for Migration’s flagship World Migration Report 2024 highlights a wide variety of factors contributing to global migration, including conflict, economic or political insecurity, and climate change. Between 2020 and 2022 the number of asylum seekers increased more than 30% to 5.4 million people. The report centers climate change’s impact on food security as a core driver of migration. In 2022, 275 million people faced acute food insecurity, which represents a 146% increase since 2016.

The construction boom across Southeast Asia, driven by burgeoning urban development and infrastructure projects, vividly highlights the dual impacts of progress. For instance, the rapid expansion of road networks, ports, and urban centers, while catalyzing economic growth, has also led to significant environmental and social displacement. These projects rely heavily on sand, a fundamental component of concrete and asphalt, extracted in vast quantities from local riverbeds. Annually, this global demand reaches approximately 50 billion tons, positioning sand as the world’s most consumed resource after water. In the Vietnamese Mekong Delta alone, 50 million cubic meters of sand are extracted annually.

Environmental Prize Winners Highlight Local Communities’ Fight Against Fossil Fuels (New York Times)

On Monday, several environmental leaders won the Goldman Environmental Prize, which the Goldman Environmental Foundation awards annually to grassroots environmental activists from each of the world’s six geographic regions. This year’s prize comes as environmental advocacy groups, especially indigenous ones, increasingly fight legal battles against companies or government entities that wish to use their land for oil and gas acquisition or coal mining.