Climate, Peace, and Security: Rethinking Security in a Warming World

Join an interdisciplinary and practice-oriented dialogue on the climate, peace, and security nexus, either in-person at the Rewley House, University of Oxford or online.

Climate change is not only an environmental or developmental challenge; it is rapidly reshaping the global security landscape in ways that are complex, non-linear, and deeply interconnected. Its implications are highly diverse, operating less as a direct cause of conflict than as a threat multiplier that exacerbates existing political, economic, and social vulnerabilities.

In conflict-affected and post-conflict settings, climate stress places additional pressure on fragile livelihoods and resource systems, with harmful consequences for food, water, and energy security. These pressures often emerge in contexts where public institutions are already unable to meet basic needs, compounding governance deficits and eroding social cohesion. As a result, climate change can deepen grievances and directly affect the capacity to sustain, reinforce, and build peace, while also reshaping the dynamics of peacebuilding itself.

At the same time, insecurity contributes to the climate crisis. Modern warfare devastates infrastructure and ecosystems, and entire regions risk becoming environmental sacrifice zones, underscoring the entanglement of climate and security.

These dynamics challenge traditional, state-centric notions of security and point towards the need for more integrated approaches that incorporate human security, environmental justice, and locally grounded perspectives.

During this hybrid event, panellists and speakers will:

• introduce the complexity of the climate, peace, and security nexus,
• illustrate how grassroots actors, peacebuilders, and academics are complementing state-led approaches through human security, environmental justice and locally grounded perspectives

Registration is required for both in-person and online participation. Please register here.

This hybrid event is organised as part of GPPAC's Climate, Peace, and Security (CLIMPSE) Project, co-funded by the EU and the United Nations Association of Mongolia (UNA Mongolia), with support from the Oxford Diplomatic Studies Programme.