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The blog of the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program
  • What You Are Reading

    Top 10 Posts for 2015

    December 29, 2015 By Schuyler Null
    shuttle_aufnahme_neu

    Conflict always wins the headlines, but in some ways, 2015 was the year of cooperation. From COP-21, the Millennium Development Goals, and the Sustainable Development Goals to disaster risk reduction, financing for development, and the G-7, the list of far-reaching international agreements is incredible.

    The climate change summit in Paris led the way (though, as some observers have pointed out, if the SDGs are accomplished we’d likely solve most of the climate problem too, and vice versa). For the first time, 188 countries agreed to a global framework to address climate change with each government responsible for making its own pledges. The narrative now shifts from climate change agreement to practical implementation.

    The most-read story last year explains just how difficult that implementation can be. Wilson Center Scholar Katrina Schwartz illuminated the political, financial, and physical forces arrayed against “climate-smart” development even in one of the United States’ most at-risk places. Sean Peoples gave similar insight into how hard it is to quit coal with his latest documentary, set in India, Broken Landscape.

    Robert Engelman predicted that interest in population will rise as governments plan for climate change and are forced to think more long term, and perhaps he’s right. Elizabeth Leahy Madsen’s deep dive into survey results in West Africa was the second-most read story last year. She helps explain what’s going on in one of the most puzzling parts of the world for demographers. A brief look at the state of political demography – trying to extrapolate some political meaning from these numbers – was also among the most popular stories.

    Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the G-7 report on climate-fragility risks. Responding to a request from the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union, the Wilson Center and three European partners produced a guide for policymakers on how to incorporate the effects of climate change into development, humanitarian aid, and peacebuilding efforts. It was one of several important steps taken this year to practically integrate climate change into how government works.

    Here are the most popular posts of 2015, by unique pageviews:

    1. Big Money, Big Politics, and Big Infrastructure: Florida’s Saga Illustrates Climate Change’s Deep Challenges, Katrina Schwartz

    2. What’s Behind West and Central Africa’s Youthful Demographics? High Desired Family Size, Elizabeth Leahy Madsen

    3. UN Report Highlights Women’s Roles in Natural Resource Management During and After Conflict, Priya Kamdar

    4. The Future of Political Demography and Its Impact on Policy, Schuyler Null

    5. Broken Landscape: Confronting India’s Water-Energy Choke Point, Sean Peoples

    6. New G7 Report Highlights Climate Change and Fragility as a Foreign Policy Priority, Wilson Center Staff

    7. India’s Food, Water, Energy Conundrum: Conclusions From a Two-Year Reporting Project, Michael Kugelman & Ferzina Banaji

    8. China’s Water-Energy-Food Roadmap: A New Global Choke Point Report, Susan Chan Shifflett

    9. Are We Keeping up With Asia’s Urbanization?, Steven Gale

    10. How Successful Were the Millennium Development Goals? A Final Report, Josh Feng

    Photo Credit: Cover of ‘A New Climate for Peace,’ courtesy of Johnson Space Center/NASA/adelphi.

    Topics: featured, meta, What You Are Reading

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