Institute for Environmental Security

Advancing Global Environmental Security
Science · Diplomacy · Law · Finance · Education

Welcome to the Institute for Environmental Security

The Institute for Environmental Security (IES) is an international non-profit non-governmental organisation established in 2002 in The Hague, in order to increase political attention to environmental security as a means to help safeguard essential conditions for peace and sustainable development.
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» Quick Links: ES Action Guide | Planet2025 News Network | Vision Map Viewer

The Perfect Storm: Trade, Finance and Climate in 2009

The Perfect Storm

NEW: For any new climate agreement to operate effectively there will have to be changes to the way the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) work. This seminar will examine the climate-friendly changes needed by these organisations to underpin an agreement at the Copenhagen Conference of the Parties (COP) in December 2009.
» Read more about this event

Book Launch: Globalization and Environmental Challenges

Globalization and Environmental Challenges

On 14 July 2008, the IES co-organised the launch of the third volume in the Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace. In the book, "Globalization and Environmental Challenges", 92 authors from 5 continents assess the reconceptualization of security triggered by the end of the Cold War, globalization and global environmental change in the early 21st century. Two co-editors, Hans Günter Brauch and Ursula Oswald Spring, presented the book to the audience in Brussels.
» Read more about this event

Symposium on The Geopolitics of Climate Change

The Geopolitics of Climate Change

On 23 April 2008, the IES co-organised a half day symposium during which Dr. Peter Haldén presented his recent book on “The Geopolitics of Climate Change”. Other topics included: The Strategic Importance of the Arctic, The Geopolitics of Energy Security, and The EU Approach to Climate Change and International Security.
» Read more about the Symposium

Converting Carbon into Things People Need

Planet2025 Communities

One of the new initiatives of the IES is Planet2025 Communities, an innovative approach to sustainable development, that "converts carbon into things people need". It addresses global climate change and poverty alleviation by planting trees on degraded lands. This helps creating sustainable livelihoods, carbon offsets, biofuels, and other ecosystem services.
» Read more about Planet2025 Communities

From Bali to Poznan: New Issues, New Challenges

FBTP Poster

On 18 December 2007, the IES convened a conference on the subject of the impact of climate change on security and sustainable development. The conference, called From Bali to Poznan: New Issues, New Challenges, was held at the European Parliament in Brussels.
» Read more about the Bali to Poznan conference

Combating Illegal Trade in Natural Resources

Illegal Logging

The IES Pathfinder Project on Combating Illegal Trade in Natural Resources focuses on using domestic legal systems of importing countries for the protection of natural resources in fragile states. The aim is to promote new legal mechanisms to block the import of illegally obtained natural resources and to 'dry up' funds that are used to finance conflict.
» Read more about the IES Pathfinder Project

Planet2025 News Network

Planet2025 News Network

Planet2025 News Network (PNN) is an internet news and information service that provides reliable and actionable information on the transition to sustainability. PNN reports about challenges, opportunities and associated risks that relate current economic, social and environmental events to lifestyle choices enabling people to live well within the reality of one planet.
» Visit Planet2025 News Network

EnviroSecurity Assessments

ESPA - Colombia under Surveillance

The three IES Prototype EnviroSecurity Assessments focusing on the Matavén area in the Colombian Guiana Shield Region, the Great Lakes region of Africa and Kalimantan, Indonesia are available on this site. The interactive map viewer and maps have been recently updated. The full case study reports, legal analyses, recommendations, maps and posters, and the latest news, are available on our ESPA pages.
» Environmental Security for Poverty Alleviation

What's New?

What is Environmental Security?

The relation between the environment and the security of humans and nature has been the object of much research and the subject of many publications in recent decades, but it is only recently becoming an important focus of international environmental policy.
» Read the full document (PDF - 369KB)

The IES Mission

The aim of the IES is: "To advance global environmental security by promoting the maintenance of the regenerative capacity of life-supporting eco-systems."
» Read more about the aims of the IES

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