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“Environmental security is the disarmament policy of the future.”
Klaus Toepfer, former Executive-Director of the United Nations Environment Programme
Klaus Toepfer chose the Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP) to deliver this message to U.S. policymakers. Why? Because he believes it is the “leading institute for environmental security in the United States.”
As hard security threats dominate the headlines, ECSP works hard to foster a broader, nonpartisan debate. We shatter the boundaries separating environment, population, and security, and reveal the links that connect our natural resources—air, water, land, forests—to conflict and cooperation. We look behind the headlines to ask, what are the underlying causes of war? Can we preserve peace by working together to protect the environment?
Speakers and Events
ECSP bridges the chasm between academic theorizing and practical policymaking. At more than 50 events a year Beltway insiders quiz big thinkers—like Jane Goodall, Jared Diamond, Rita Colwell, R.K. Pachauri, and Jeffrey Sachs—and professors and practitioners meet political players, such as Gro Harlem Brundtland, Mikhail Gorbachev, Peter Piot, General Anthony Zinni, and Senators Richard Lugar and Max Baucus.
But we are not just about famous names: ECSP also hosts less visible—but no less insightful—activists and scholars struggling to improve life in developing countries.
Chinese journalist Wang Yongchen reports environmental law violations in her radio broadcasts.
Captain Stephen Talugende combats AIDS in the Ugandan army.
Thai parliamentarian and entrepreneur Mechai Viravaidya leverages private enterprise to conserve biodiversity and improve health care.
Russian activist and former prisoner Alexander Nikitin blows the whistle on military pollution.
You don’t hear these names on the nightly news, but we give them a seat at the table.
Nonpartisan Research
As part of the Smithsonian Institution, ECSP produces and disseminates nonpartisan research for international and domestic policymakers. We have analyzed climate change’s impact on security for the United Nations Foundation, examined environmental conflict and cooperation for the UN Environment Programme, and explored the roots of conflict with organizations throughout the developing world.
ECSP has been mapping the path to a sustainable peace since 1994. We are celebrating our next decade with the following conferences and publications:
Examine Africa's struggle with resource conflict—and the possibilities for peace that population and environment initiatives may hold—in ECSP Report's 12th issue, which features Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai and other African population and environment experts.
Separate “water wars” reality from rhetoric with new research from our Navigating Peace Initiative on the future of water conflict and cooperation.
Face the new enemy—high HIV rates—threatening militaries in developing countries with reports from Russia, Uganda, and Cambodia.
Unearth environmental peacemaking opportunities that use natural resources to prevent conflict at a debate that asks, do “peace parks” really work?
Share lessons from population, health, and conservation programs that safeguard unique wildlife while raising the standard of living in Africa and Central America.
Topics
China Environment Forum
ECSP’s China Environment Forum creates programming, publications, and study tours to encourage dialogue among U.S. and Chinese scholars, policymakers, and nongovernmental organizations on environmental and energy challenges in China.
Environment and Security
Environmental challenges can threaten our security, but managing these challenges can also build confidence and contribute to peace. ECSP brings policymakers, practitioners, and scholars from around the world to address the public on the “disarmament policy of the future”—environmental security.
Population, Health, and Environment
Global population dynamics—such as urbanization, “youth bulge,” migration, and the spread of HIV/AIDS—can affect political stability and violent conflict. ECSP’s Population, Health, and Environment Initiative explores the linkages among reproductive health, infectious disease, and natural resource management, within the context of foreign policy and global security.
Water
Water is essential to life, yet analysis of water issues is stuck in outmoded paradigms. ECSP programs and publications examine water’s potential to spur conflict and cooperation, its social and economic value, and its relationship to health and disease.
Publications and Communications
The program publishes two annual journals—the Environmental Change and Security Program Report and the China Environment Series—which are read by more than 7,000 policymakers, practitioners, journalists, and interested citizens. ECSP News, the program’s e-newsletter, delivers news, summaries, and invites to thousands of email recipients every month. Subscribe to ECSP News.
ECSP also publishes FOCUS, a series of papers on population, environment, and security (previously named PECS News) as well as original research, such as Environmental Peacemaking and occasional papers like Finding the Source: The Linkages Between Population and Water and Crouching Suspicions, Hidden Potential: U.S. Energy and Environmental Cooperation with China. In addition, ECSP collaborates with partner organizations to produce new reports on environmental security, like UNEP’s Understanding Environment, Conflict, and Cooperation, and USAID’s Minerals and Conflict Toolkit.
ECSP also maintains The New Security Beat blog, which provides frequent updates and commentary on the latest news, reports, and resources on population, environment, and security.
Members of the media interested in environment, population, and security are invited to visit ECSP’s Media Room, a one-stop shop for ECSP's experts and latest press releases, events, and publications.
Funders
ECSP's core activities are made possible by the generous support of the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of Population and Reproductive Health. ECSP and its China Environment Forum also receive support from the United Nations Environment Programme, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Western Kentucky University's Hoffman Environmental Research Institute, Japan Foundation's Center for Global Partnership, Shell (China) Limited, Tamaki Foundation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and private individuals.
Your donation will help us continue to seek a sustainable world for a lasting peace.
Associated Collaborators
The Wilson Center's Trade and Environment Forum
Facilitated by Wilson Center Senior Policy Fellow William T. Krist, the Trade and Environment Forum fosters new thinking and problem-solving in the reconciliation of international trade and environment objectives.
The Environment, Development, and Sustainable Peace Initiative (EDSP)
EDSP is an international effort to bridge the gap between Northern and Southern perspectives on environment, development, population, poverty, conflict, and peace. Co-sponsors include ECSP, the German institute Adelphi Research, and CEMEDE at the National University of Costa Rica.
Global Environmental Change and Human Security (GECHS) Project, a core project of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change
IHDP is an international, interdisciplinary, nongovernmental science program dedicated to promoting and coordinating research. It fosters high-quality research aimed at describing, analyzing, and understanding the human dimensions of global environmental change.
Harrison Program on the Future Global Agenda at the University of Maryland
The Harrison Program on the Future Global Agenda promotes research, teaching, and public dialogue on issues related to ecological security, long-term sustainability, energy and environmental policy, global governance, and transnational society. Located within the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, the Harrison Program hosts international visitors, sponsors doctoral students as Harrison Dissertation Fellows, conducts conferences and workshops, sponsors an occasional speaker series, and conducts a vigorous program of research and publication on core program themes.
Internships
ECSP offers internships for students with an interest in, coursework related to, and/or experience working on topics of environmental and human security importance. These internships are designed to provide the individuals selected with the opportunity to gain practical experience in an environment that combines academic study and public policy. Internships also provide opportunities to attend events within the Wilson Center and around Washington. To apply, please submit your resume and cover letter to ecsp@wilsoncenter.org.
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