Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Sinéad Barry @sineadbarry.bsky.social · Jun 26

Happy to share our latest report on #Climate, Peace and Environmental #Resilience in the Asia-Pacific region!

Check it out for insights on:

🌐 Streamlining regional expertise into international institutions

🚗 Supporting safe, dignified mobility

♻️ Advancing a just transition framework

➕ and more!

Climate Diplomacy and Security @climatediplo.bsky.social · Jun 25

🌏Despite rising threats & rich regional expertise, a stark data gap remains on climate-related risks to peace, #stability and development in the #Asia-Pacific region.

Our report Climate, Peace & Environmental #Resilience in the Asia-Pacific Region aims to help fill the gap.

🔎adelph.it/AsiaPacific

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Rachel Holliday Smith @rachelholliday.bsky.social · Jun 24

currently making me laugh: all the people from way outside of NYC being like "why the hell do I care so much about the mayoral race" A THREAD 🧵

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Climate Diplomacy and Security @climatediplo.bsky.social · Mar 3

🆕The latest episode of the podcast dives into the complex relationship between conflict, climate change and the environment in Yemen and what recent cuts in foreign aid mean for projects and programming w/ @omeisy.bsky.social (@eurpeace.bsky.social) & @sineadbarry.bsky.social
🎙️ adelph.it/podcast47

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Jacobin Magazin @jacobinmagazin.bsky.social · Feb 13

Wir trauern um unseren Autor und Freund, Wolfgang Sporrer. Sein Leben und Wirken waren geleitet von der Maxime, dass Frieden die Grundlage ist, auf der eine bessere Welt erst möglich wird.
jacobin.de/autoren/wolf...

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · Feb 17

"The bicycle is a simple solution to some of the world's most complicated problems"

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🌍⚖️ Sébastien Duyck @duycks.bsky.social · Feb 14

🌹There is no love. There are only proofs of love.
Time for the 46 European governments to move beyond good intentions & take a firm position on Feb. 25th in favour of a legally binding instrument to protect the right to a healthy environment under the 🇪🇺 European Convention on Human Rights

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Jane McAdam @profjmcadam.bsky.social · Feb 13

Don't forget to register for our speed briefing on a new legal toolkit to protect people displaced in the context of climate change. The Australian one is tomorrow - Fri 14 Feb 12.30-1pm. Full details here www.unsw.edu.au/news/2025/02...

New global toolkit to guide refugee claims involving climate change and disasters

Climate impacts are arising in protection claims worldwide. A ground-breaking new global toolkit shows how decision-makers across the globe are grappling with such claims, offering practical legal gui...

www.unsw.edu.au

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Wim Zwijnenburg @wammezz.bsky.social · Feb 7

There has been little to no rainfall in northern #Syria, the country's bread basket, and we're getting alarming footage from our partners showing barren land, which should be green by now. What will this bring for the future?

See our 2022 report on these fears reliefweb.int/report/syria...

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Sinéad Barry @sineadbarry.bsky.social · Feb 7

"All the residents are under indefinite detention, as no plans have apparently been made to prosecute any of them —Imagine if #Guantánamo were the size of a city, and its inmates were mostly women and children."

More accurate reporting on #AlHol from Anand Gopal for
@newyorker.com last year:

The Open-Air Prison for ISIS Supporters—and Victims

Since the Islamic State fell, tens of thousands of people—many of them children—have been herded into Al-Hol, a giant fenced-in camp in Syria, and effectively given life sentences.

www.newyorker.com

Sinéad Barry @sineadbarry.bsky.social · Feb 7

While IS-ideologues continue to pose security threats (mostly to other residents) in #AlHol, they are a minority.

The vast majority of adult detainees are #Syrian civilians -predominantly women, most of whom are attempting to re-establish their lives post-IS amid enormous adversity.

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Sinéad Barry @sineadbarry.bsky.social · Feb 7

"President Trump’s funding freeze has thrown into confusion the future of a Syrian desert camp holding thousands of Islamic State members and their families."

Let's not forget, almost 2 in 3 #AlHol detainees are children, most of whom are too young to remember IS-rule, let alone be fighters.

U.S. Waives Aid Funding Freeze at Syrian Camp Holding ISIS Fighters (Gift Article)

Upholding security at the camp is seen as critical to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State. A contractor that trains the police there got a temporary waiver allowing it to continue operating.

www.nytimes.com

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Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · Jan 31

More on FEWSnet shutdown from Devex:

USAID-funded famine early warning system goes offline due to aid freeze

A key food insecurity data tool used by humanitarian groups worldwide has been taken down due to the Trump administration's stop-work order on USAID, raising alarm among aid workers.

www.devex.com

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Mark Little @marklittle.bsky.social · Jan 27

“This is not about taking action against a person’s voice. This is the commission saying that everyone’s voice should be equal.” www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Elon Musk Is Giving Europeans a Headache

He and other tech oligarchs are making it impossible to conduct free and fair elections anywhere.

www.theatlantic.com

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · Jan 14

More than 64,000 Palestinians may have been killed by traumatic injury in the first nine months of the war in Gaza, according to a new study. It suggests that the Hamas health ministry tally, a figure the UN relies on, is a significant undercount. nyti.ms/4fZxCIv

The aftermath of Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip. The text reads: "Death Toll in Gaza Likely 40% Higher Than Reported, Researchers Say." Photo by Yousef Masoud for The New York Times.

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benjaminpohlberlin.bsky.social @benjaminpohlberlin.bsky.social · Jan 2

"a perverse incentive drove our system. To win promotions and bigger salaries, military and civilian leaders felt they had to sell their tours of duty, deployments, programs and projects as successes — even when they were not" #Afghanistan

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/02/o...

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Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · Dec 12

With recent news that 40% of Earth's land habitats are now categorised as drylands, the capacity of solar farms to prevent desertification seems doubly significant.

Robbie Andrew @robbieandrew.bsky.social · Dec 12

Very interesting piece by Xiaoying You in Carbon Brief about the additional benefit from solar in China's desert areas: pushing back the desert. Physical barriers against sand movement, reducing wind-borne sand, more moisture retention, and more.

Explainer: How China’s renewables rollout boosts its ‘war on sand’ - Carbon Brief

China’s effort to build large solar power “bases” in and around the desert is a major part of its current renewable plan.

www.carbonbrief.org

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Damian Barr @damianbarr.bsky.social · Dec 9

A reminder to please pay your freelancers before popping off for the holidays otherwise Santa won’t visit you and you will be doomed to live in a forever-winter with no Christmas and Mr Tumnus will be turned to stone.

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Sinéad Barry @sineadbarry.bsky.social · Dec 6

Undercurrents shows how civil war, environmental degradation and mismanagement have reduced #water and #land resources in Yemen, driving further #conflict.

In this assessment, we at @climatediplo.bsky.social outline why climate and environmental action must be part of #Yemen's peace efforts.

Climate Diplomacy and Security @climatediplo.bsky.social · Dec 6

Civil war, #climatechange and environmental degradation are reducing vital #naturalresources across 🇾🇪 #Yemen, driving #displacement and conflict at the local level.

Our new assessment shows how this is playing out, spotlighting issues around water and land.

🔎Read it: adelph.it/Undercurrents

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Conflict and Environment Observatory @ceobs.org · Dec 5

A STACK of interesting OA papers in this special issue on the relationships between armed conflicts and forests; Andes, Bangladesh, #Syria, #Afghanistan, #frankinsense and more www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...

Trees, Forests and People | Legacy of Warfare on the World's Forests | ScienceDirect.com by ElsevierScienceDirect

Through human history, conflict has been a continued and devastating force to ecosystems. Historically, these impacts have included mass deforestation to garner resources to support the military compl...

www.sciencedirect.com

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Climate Diplomacy and Security @climatediplo.bsky.social · Dec 4

📬 On our latest newsletter:
🎙️Climate finance & peace at #COP29
📺UNCCD's #COP16Riyadh: How ecosystem restoration can foster peace
🔎Regional study on cooperation between #Azerbaijan and #Georgia
✍Keeping #ClimateSecurity human-centric

Read: adelph.it/10thIssue2024
Subscribe: adelph.it/ECCnewsletter

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Sinéad Barry @sineadbarry.bsky.social · Dec 4

#Syria's conflict was never frozen...

Particularly for the tens of thousands detained or trying to re-establish their lives post-IS.

Some resources from us and others on what Syrians in the Northeast have been facing in the last years ⬇️

shorturl.at/XeFt1

shorturl.at/SXBI0

shorturl.at/ILuYG

Chatham House @chathamhouse.org · Dec 4

Russia and Iran-backed militias are moving to prop up Bashar al-Assad, as opposition forces advance. But a political solution remains the only way to end the cycle of violence.

Syria’s conflict was never going to stay frozen. A new push for a lasting peace is needed

Russia and Iran-backed militias are moving to prop up Bashar al-Assad, as opposition forces advance. But a political solution remains the only way to end the cycle of violence.

www.chathamhouse.org

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🌍⚖️ Sébastien Duyck @duycks.bsky.social · Dec 2

📌 #AOLetsGo: Ongoing today: #ClimateJustice hearings at⚖️🇺🇳 International Court of Justice - a historical moment
🧵live thread below with summaries of key arguments, context & relevant links ⬇️

🎙️Hear from Pacific Islands Student Fighting Climate Change's Vishal Prasad setting the stage.

A 🧵👇

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benjaminpohlberlin.bsky.social @benjaminpohlberlin.bsky.social · Nov 29

"Cette décision ... marque un tournant historique. ... En effet, après 66 ans de la proclamation de la république du #Tchad, il est temps pour le Tchad d'affirmer sa souveraineté pleine et entière" 👇

Thomas van Linge @thomasvlinge.bsky.social · Nov 29

And just like that the last domino falls.

The #Deby regime of #Chad 🇹🇩 announces it suspends all military cooperation with #France 🇫🇷, meaning Paris just lost its last remaining foothold in the Sahel region.

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Zoë Schlanger @zoeschlanger.bsky.social · Nov 25

I wrote about the elephant in the room at COP: National debt. Developing countries are drowning in debts owed to states, private bondholders, and banks. Disasters provoke more debt. New climate finance often comes as debt, too. It's a dangerous spiral. Gift link: www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

Climate Diplomacy’s $300 Billion Failure

Climate negotiations at COP29 ended in a deal that mostly showed how far the world is from facing climate change’s real dangers.

www.theatlantic.com

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Alex Randall @alex-randall.bsky.social · Nov 25

🌍 Somalia’s $100M climate fund success is a breakthrough, but conflict-hit nations need $35B annually to adapt.

Can climate finance overcome fear to invest where risk is highest?

Can climate funders overcome fear to tread in conflict zones?

At COP29, fragile climate-vulnerable countries launched a network aimed at securing the climate finance they say has been slow to come as their needs surge Conflict-hit countries launch a network…

buff.ly

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