The Week at Chatham House: Five Things We Learned
Climate Change is Playing a Growing Role in Europe’s Refugee Crisis
In 2010 a severe heatwave in Russia laid waste to the wheat harvest, triggering the imposition of export controls and a spike in international wheat prices that drove up the cost of bread in the largest wheat importing region in the world — North Africa. When people first took to the streets of Cairo in 2011 to protest the corrupt regime of Hosni Mubarak, they were waving loaves of bread.
As climate change continues, it will have increasingly severe impacts on livelihoods and local resource competition, ultimately increasing the risk of social upheaval. In extreme cases, climate change may leave people with little option but to move. One recent analysis found temperatures in the Middle East and North Africa could be so extreme by the end of the century that some areas may become uninhabitable.
Learning the lessons of the current crisis, the EU must develop early-warning systems that will allow it to monitor, mitigate and prepare for future crises as climate change gathers pace. Read more…
Approximately 20,000 Refugees Die Prematurely Each Year as a Result of Household Air Pollution
Almost 9 million people now live in refugee camps, where residents now stay for an average of 17 years. Humanitarian groups and host countries struggle to provide the basics in terms of food, shelter and medical care, which means that longer-term challenges such as energy for lighting, heating and cooking have been largely overlooked.
As a result, thousands die every year from inhaling dirty fumes while cooking in tents. Open fires, kerosene lamps and candles frequently cause accidents, and women and girls often experience violence when collecting firewood. The Moving Energy Initiative is working to change this by researching and piloting new ways of providing affordable, clean energy to displaced communities.
Read more at the new Moving Energy website or support the Moving Energy Thunderclap to raise awareness of the refugee energy crisis.
At Current Rates of Progress, It Would Take 118 Years to Close the Gender Pay Gap
Increasing female participation in the labour market and closing the gender pay gap has huge potential to boost the stagnating economies of the G20. But progress has been painfully slow. The International Economics department at Chatham House is hosting an International Policy Forum in July to address this issue, and now they’re looking for fresh ideas from young people.
If you are aged 18–25, enter our video competition to explain what you would do to make the world a better place for women and you could win a trip to the July forum as well as the 2017 W20 Summit to present your idea to international decision makers on gender equality. Read more and enter the contest.
China’s Climate Targets are More than Just Hot Air
Of the 13 binding targets in China’s 13th Five Year Plan, 10 relate to the environment and natural resources. By putting innovation and green development at the heart of its ambition to create a prosperous society, China’s leaders have sent an important signal: that they not only take seriously their UN pledge to peak emissions before 2030, but also that they hope the country will be the leading supplier of low-carbon technologies. Read more…
The Russian-American Plan for a New Syrian Constitution is Good News for Assad
A key requirement for a new Syrian government or governing body to be authentically ‘transitional’ is for it to have the mandate to oversee a review of Syria’s constitution. John Kerry’s recent announcement that the US and Russia will work together to draft a new constitution means that this defining element of a post-settlement transitional process is effectively no longer endorsed by the international backers on either side of this civil war.
This is yet another signal that the international community’s approach to a settlement for Syria is increasingly resembling the regime’s position. The UN mediator’s summary of the latest round of Syrian talks implies that the institution of the presidency would continue during the transitional period, which makes it even more likely that Assad will remain part of any new Syrian government. Read more…
