When the White House released the US Framework for Climate Resilience and Security in September 2024, it was an important opportunity to highlight the significant impacts of climate change on US national security, economic, and strategic interests. The Framework also emphasized the need for tailored approaches in fragile, conflict-affected, and vulnerable (FCV) contexts, particularly in managing and allocating resources, as well as ensuring that climate finance addresses conflict drivers.

During humanitarian emergencies, women and newborns face severe disparities and heightened vulnerabilities, increasing their risk of illness and death. Humanitarian crises—caused by conflict, climate-related disasters, or forced displacement—disrupt health systems, limit access to essential services, and increase the likelihood of preventable deaths. In 2023, 58% of global maternal deaths, 50% of newborn deaths, and 51% of stillbirths worldwide occurred in the 29 countries with a UN humanitarian response plan or regional response plan. In humanitarian emergencies, a lack of skilled health personnel, inadequate infrastructure, and shortages of essential medicines are common—resulting in limited access to both basic and emergency maternal and newborn care. A fight for humanitarian aid is also a challenge, as maternal and newborn health are often under-prioritized or neglected in humanitarian response.

Hurricanes Helene and Milton battered the southeastern US in September and October and caused a combined estimate of $300 billion in damages. These storms were only the latest example of a cascade of disasters that is expected to worsen as climate change intensifies. Yet the impacts do not stop at dollars and human lives. Threats to security and stability also will multiply as rising temperatures increase the variability of rainfall patterns and the intensity of storms.

Somalia is trapped in a cycle where climate impacts—droughts, floods, and erratic weather patterns—fuel displacement, poverty, and conflict. With agriculture and pastoralism at the core of its economy, the country is particularly vulnerable to these environmental shocks, which create fertile ground for insurgent groups to exploit the resulting instability.

For a group of self-described environmentalists, the roughly two dozen Azerbaijanis who suddenly assembled along the highway near the Armenian border in late 2022 looked like a pretty atypical lot. None of them appeared to have a background in any kind of green movement. Nor did any of them, clad in largely matching cold weather gear, attempt to explain how they could protest mining operations (their declared raison d’être) without encountering problems in a police state. Indeed, they remained unbothered even as their numbers swelled over the following weeks.