Biodiversity loss, pollution and climate change erode natural resources and ecosystems and threaten livelihoods and societal resilience around the world. Environmental degradation can be a conflict driver, especially in contexts that are made fragile by insecurity, inequality and poor governance. Yet environmental protection can also yield opportunities for peace, for example by bringing actors with conflicting interests to discuss or exchange information about a shared natural resource. In an era of deepening ecological crisis, it is increasingly necessary to understand how environmental and natural resource factors are linked to peace and conflict dynamics.

In this FIIA Climate Day event we will consider how environmental degradation factors into conflicts and peace-building. How does biodiversity loss contribute to conflict and insecurity? Could a shared interest in securing the environment help to initiate a dialogue between parties to a dispute? How should natural resources be taken into account in peace-building processes?

The event is organized in cooperation with WWF Finland.