In the summer of 2025, Tehran almost reached “Day Zero” – a designation for the moment when the city’s municipal water supply was no longer able to meet basic demand through normal distribution systems. Indeed, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has repeatedly warned that the capital may need to be relocated due to the worsening water crisis.

Last fall, I travelled back to my hometown in rural Wen’an County, Hebei Province, and was surprised to find my aunt Lu had installed 12 solar panels on the roof of her house. Because I am a low-carbon policy wonk at a Beijing consultancy, I peppered her with energy questions as we admired the rooftop panels. “So, where does the electricity go? To your own appliances, an aggregator, or the grid company? Are you paid for renting out the roof or for selling the electricity?”

A window into what we’re reading at the Stimson Center’s Environmental Security Program

Rapid Central Asia Glacial Melt Threatens Water Security (The Diplomat) 

A recent study projects that the Tian Shan mountains, the primary freshwater source for millions across Central Asia and China’s Xinjiang region, will lose approximately one-third of their glacier area before 2040. Already, the region has seen a 27% drop in glacial mass and an 18% drop in areas over the last 50 years. The Tian Shan’s smaller glaciers respond more rapidly to warming temperatures, as rising temperatures reduce the snowfall that historically replenishes glacial mass. These glacial and meteorological conditions create a compounding effect that makes the Tian Shan more vulnerable than the larger, slower-responding glaciers of the Karakoram, Pamir, and Himalaya ranges. 

The article was adapted from “Local Resilience Can Mitigate Climate Conflicts in the Pacific,” published by Global Outlook.

Pacific Island countries sit at the frontline of climate change. Many consist of small, low-lying islands, with long coastlines and vast ocean spaces between them. Livelihoods often depend on agriculture and fishing, and importing water or food is often infeasible or expensive. This makes those large ocean nations highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, such as storms, droughts, and rising sea levels.

Multilateralism is under threat, as many global powers increasingly choose to center their security priorities around defense and economic competition over international cooperation. This shift toward short-term national interests risks undermining progress on joint challenges, including climate change, peace and justice. What will be lost if the climate security agenda becomes a battlefield of competing interests? How can peacebuilding and development actors respond?

Journeying from November 2025’s International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) in Bogotá to the UN climate negotiations in Belém the following month revealed a fundamental tension. Evidence increasingly shows that climate justice requires reproductive justice, yet translating that recognition into policy commitments continues to raise political apprehensions among stakeholders.

A window into what we’re reading at the Stimson Center’s Environmental Security Program

Rising Food Insecurity is Driving Instability (Foreign Affairs)

Since 2020, the number of people facing acute hunger and chronic food insecurity has increased 130% above existing levels. And supply is not the issue. At present, the world produces enough food to feed nearly 10 billion people, yet there are 720 million people who are food insecure and a further 319 million face acute hunger. Today’s hunger is driven instead by barriers to access.

This article was adapted from Stephanie Speck’s remarks at the 2025 Berlin Climate Security Conference.

When I arrived in Mogadishu in 2013 to set up and lead the Office of the President’s communication and media department, I had the privilege of being invited to breakfast with the President. As I made my way through the layers of security leading to the presidential residence, I noticed an older woman walking behind me—cradling a chicken under each arm. She followed closely, undeterred by the checkpoints that stopped others.