Institute for Environmental Security

Advancing Global Environmental Security through
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.

Quick Links: ES Action Guide | Vision Map Viewer | Video | Newsletter | Search

IES News

Climate and Conflict: a Double Disaster for the Poorest People

A special approach for fragile states.

Climate and Conflict: a Double Disaster for the Poorest People - Image While world leaders have left Copenhagen with a totally inadequate “climate agreement”, many glaciers in the Himalayas are melting, and many Africans face rising temperatures and increasing droughts. There is often insufficient knowledge and capacity to tackle these major problems. For countries involved in a civil war or those slowly... » Full Story

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Climate Change & the Military Project

Climate Change and the Military

NEW: As part of this project, IES is organising a workshop on 'Climate Change and Security After Copenhagen' on 17 February at the European Parliament in Brussels. » Read more

The CCTM Project aims at stimulating the debate on the relation between climate change and the role of the military and on how it could contribute to the struggle against impending security threats.
» Read more about this project

Global Policy Coherence

Global Policy Coherence

The project on Global Policy Coherence aims for an improvement of the compatibility of existing trade and financial regimes with the new post-2012 climate change agreement.
» More information

EnviroSecurity Assessments

ESPA - Colombia under Surveillance

The IES EnviroSecurity Assessments focusing on the Matavén forest - Colombia, the African Great Lakes region and Central Kalimantan - Indonesia are available on this site. Meanwhile, the IES is working on an EnviroSecurity Assessment for the Congo Basin and the Horn of Africa. Case study reports, legal analyses, recommendations, maps, posters and the latest news are available here. » ESPA Programme

'Vision' Interactive Map Viewer

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The IES interactive map viewer displays overlapping GIS data on the IES case studies in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. View GIS data and satellite images selecting your own combination of data and analytical indicators for different time periods.

What is Environmental Security?

The relation between the environment and the security of humans and nature has been the subject of much research in recent decades, and is now becoming an important focus of international environmental policy. Click here to read a 2-page overview on environmental security. See also our Introduction to the Concepts of Environmental Security and Environmental Conflict.

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Planet2025 Voices

Planet2025 Voices was set up to promote the exchange of a broad range of perspectives about a planet in peril. The blog is a place for multi-cultural dialogue about the future of the planet and humanity's historic window of opportunity to shape a positive and hopeful future.

Planet2025 Voices

Faces - They Belong to All of Us

FACES – They Belong To All Of Us There are 6.67 billion humans on planet earth; and 2.2 are between the ages of 0 an 18 years...

Sustainability: The 5 Core Principles (Pt. 7)

(Ed. Note: The following post is the conclusion of a 7 part series. Find the earlier posts in the series on the author’s page...

Sustainability: The 5 Core Principles (Pt. 6)

(Ed. Note: The following post is a continuation of a 7 part series. Find the earlier posts in the series on the author’s page...

Sustainability: The 5 Core Principles (Pt. 5)

(Ed. Note: The following post is a continuation of a 7 part series. Find the earlier posts in the series on the author’s page...

Sustainability: The 5 Core Principles (Pt. 4)

(Ed. Note: The following post is a continuation of a 7 part series. Find the earlier posts in the series on the author’s page...

Planet2025 Communities: converting carbon into things people need

Planet2025 Communities is 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.

Using an integrated agroforestry approach, these forest gardens help creating sustainable livelihoods, carbon offsets, biofuels, and other ecosystem services.

Planet2025 Communities
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