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

A Water Security Crisis Grips Pakistan’s Indus Delta (Al-Jazeera)

The Indus delta in Pakistan is experiencing severe environmental collapse as seawater intrusion makes farming and fishing impossible. Salinity levels have risen 70% since 1990, forcing tens of thousands from coastal districts. Over 1.2 million people from the broader delta region have abandoned their homes in the past two decades. The construction of irrigation canals and hydropower dams, compounded by the impacts of climate change on glacial melt, has accelerated the crisis and reduced downstream flow by 80% since the 1950s. More than 16% of fertile Indus delta land has become unproductive, as salt crusts cover the ground and boats must transport drinking water to the region’s remaining villages.

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

Low Political Will and Depleted Supplies: Inside Iran’s Water Crisis  (The New York Times) 

Water shortages are a day-to-day reality for many Iranians, as reservoirs shrink, taps run dry for hours, and water pressure remains so low that it doesn’t reach above the second floor. This acute water crisis is driven by a confluence of climatic changes and poor water policies, as Iran’s five-year drought has combined with overdevelopment, excessive dam development, and draining groundwater for agriculture to push already dwindling supplies to the brink. 

Somalia’s new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)—the country’s roadmap for climate mitigation and adaptation—does more than outline the country’s climate ambitions. It recognizes the connections between climate change and conflict and charts a course for peace.

Syria finds itself at a crossroads. Faced with the imminent need to prevent a relapse into renewed short-term insecurity, its government also must start to develop longer-term strategies to support recovery.

Generating peace dividends for Syria’s embattled population requires confronting the ecological threats which currently undermine basic human security across the country. Nowhere do these threats emerge more prominently than in its agricultural sector. Ensuring that this essential sector lives up to its potential as an engine for economic stabilization and peace will require a set of targeted – and climate-sensitive – investments and interventions.  

As 2025 marches into its third month, the governance challenges that accompany rising demand for natural resources are not only on the front burner—they are proliferating—and  becoming entangled with the drivers of conflict and cooperation.

The heated competition for resources has bubbled up in a proposed billion-dollar deal for Ukrainian minerals now making global headlines. The view that critical minerals like lithium, manganese, and others could become bargaining chips in potential peace talks demonstrates how central they’ve become to global competition—and to the economic and political future of countries around the world.

A window into what we’re reading at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program

Congo Takes Apple to Court (Foreign Policy)

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has filed criminal lawsuits against Apple subsidiaries in France and Belgium, alleging that the company profits from smuggled conflict minerals laundered through Rwanda. This legal action follows the seizure of key mining areas by M23 rebels, which has further fueled a conflict that already has killed over 8,500 people. Apple denies the claims, stating that it ordered its suppliers to suspend sourcing from Congo and Rwanda.

Much of the current narrative surrounding critical minerals puts speed and competition in the foreground. Yet the how of mining matters immensely to create and maintain stable mineral supply chains. Reliable and diversified supply chains create win-win scenarios for all stakeholders by incorporating best-in-class environmental standards and true community partnerships.

A window into what we’re reading at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program

EU Parliament Suspends Rwandan Critical Mineral Pact Over Links to DRC Conflict (Mongabay)

Rwanda and the DRC both have large reserves of critical minerals essential to the clean energy transition. Yet the EU has voted to suspend a cooperation agreement on mineral extraction in the region after the Rwandan-backed rebel group M23 seized key areas in the DRC’s eastern provinces.