The US–Israeli war launched against Iran in 2026 may be remembered as the moment fossil-fuel dependence became more than a mere abstraction for the Global South. Brent crude quickly surged past $100 a barrel. Iran militarized the Strait of Hormuz (through which 20 million barrels a day, or a fifth of global oil consumption, normally flow) and retaliated against regional energy infrastructure. Qatar declared force majeure on its liquefied natural gas exports after Iranian drone attacks. Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura refinery shut down.

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

Green Corridor Addresses Conflict Economies in Virunga National Park (Mongabay)

In the Eastern Congo, Virunga National Park faces an intertwined crisis of conflict and environmental destruction rooted in economic desperation. Communities residing within the park rely on charcoal production and forest clearing for survival. Simultaneously, armed militias exploit these same resources to finance ongoing violence. In response, Virunga administrators have developed an integrated model using renewable energy as the foundation for an alternative economy.

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.

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

Energy Fallout from Iran War Signals a Global Wake-Up Call for Renewable Energy (Associated Press) 

Fighting in Iran has effectively halted oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint carrying roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and LNG — triggering an energy shock that is exposing the deep vulnerabilities of fossil fuel-dependent economies. Asia has been hit hardest, while Europe and Africa face mounting pressure from rising fuel costs and inflation. The crisis has sharpened debate over the uneven global energy transition. China’s substantial renewable buildout has provided meaningful insulation from the shock, while countries like Japan and India — which prioritized fossil fuel diversification after past crises — find themselves more exposed. Vietnam’s solar capacity is saving hundreds of millions in projected import costs. Meanwhile, Bangladesh has shuttered universities to conserve electricity, and India faces a cooking gas shortage. With more than 90% of new renewable projects now cost-competitive with fossil fuels, experts argue the strategic case for domestic clean energy has never been clearer.  

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

As Gulf Conflict Widens, So Does Its Environmental Footprint  (Dialogue Earth)

The Conflict and Environment Observatory identified at least 120 incidents of environmental harm across 11 countries since the start of U.S. and Israelis began attacks on Iran, as both sides have made oil infrastructure, military facilities, and strategic sites primary targets. The burgeoning conflict poses nuclear, chemical, and long-term carbon risks, as strikes on refineries, tankers, and storage sites degrade air quality, contaminate water contamination, and harm marine ecosystems. And other serious catastrophes loom as the war develops. The IAEA warns that any radioactive release from strikes that target nuclear sites could require evacuating areas the size of major cities.

Recent attacks on critical infrastructure in Iran and the Persian Gulf mark a troubling escalation in the widening regional conflict. Since the U.S. and Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran on February 28, Iran has responded with waves of missiles and drones targeting Gulf states across the region. Last weekend, both sides crossed a new threshold by striking civilian water and energy infrastructure. U.S. strikes allegedly hit a desalination plan on Iran’s Qeshm Island; Iran retaliated with a drone strike on a desalination plant in Bahrain; and Israeli airstrikes on fuel depots sent toxic smoke across Tehran.

With a reduction in capacity of bilateral and multilateral institutions and a broader political retreat from environmental protection and peacebuilding, environmental peacebuilding reached a turning point in 2025. This was the conclusion of leading experts who spoke at The Year in Review and the Year Ahead  webinar hosted by the Environmental Peacebuilding Association, as they reflected on the mounting constraints posed by this altered landscape.

I recently returned to Syria for my first peacetime visit. Unsurprisingly, the country is an awful mess. The destruction is somehow slightly more conspicuous than it seemed through a number of trips between 2014 and 2022. People’s exhaustion is palpable, and the economic situation is every bit as bad for many now as it was during the war. A formidable—and thus far entirely unanswered—environmental question also looms: how on Earth is the country’s landscape to be salvaged?