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

AI Energy Demand Outpaces Its Climate Solutions (Eco-Business)

A new International Energy Agency report finds that AI’s significant promise in improving energy efficiency and grid reliability may not match the energy sector’s inability to keep pace with the explosive growth of AI’s physical infrastructure.

The relationship between climate vulnerability and political instability is clear. Twenty-two of the 30 countries ranked as the most vulnerable to climate change in 2025 also were categorized as fragile and/or conflict affected. Within this contexts, the need for solutions that address the intersection of climate risks and instability is increasingly dire.  

A recent Stimson Center event hosted with the Green Climate Fund (GCF)—Climate Finance as a Tool for Global Stability—examined how early climate investments in climate adaptation, food systems, and water security can reduce the risk of conflict and displacement. 

When armed groups began threatening a community in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that had recently gained access to solar-powered electricity, something unexpected happened. Rather than flee, residents rushed to protect their mini-grid. They put themselves at risk to keep the lights on.

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.

A massive flood in Somalia killed hundreds of people, and displaced tens of thousands more. Yet the survivors faced a vexing prospect when they tried to return home: Al-Shabab had moved in.  

Stephanie Speck, Head of Special Initiatives at the Green Climate Fund, observed at a recent Stimson Center event that Shabab’s new levies meant that residents could not to move back to farm their land.  

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

High Seas Treaty Passes UN Ratification Threshold for Implementation (New York Times) 

Last week, the High Seas Treaty reached 60 ratifications in the United Nations, crossing the threshold to take effect and triggering a four-month countdown to full implementation. The agreement creates a comprehensive regulatory framework to protect all international waters beyond any single country’s jurisdiction.  

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

New Report On Women’s Access to UN Indigenous and Community Land Rights Funding (Mongabay) 

A study published by the Rights and Resources Initiative and the Women in the Global South Alliance reveals that despite the central role women play in conservation and community resilience, 50% of women’s organizations lack core funding and rely heavily on volunteer labor. The report assessed how network members are benefitting in real terms from the $1.7 billion in funding for Indigenous and community land rights pledged at the 2021 UN climate conference. 

“There cannot be a healthy planet without a healthy ocean. It’s urgent business for us all,” said U.N. special envoy for the ocean, Peter Thomson, at last month’s UN Ocean Conference (UNOC). 

Hosted in Nice, France, the conference brought together more than 15,000 political leaders, scientists, civil society, the private sector, academic institutions, Indigenous peoples, local communities, and philanthropic organizations with the goal of identifying innovative ways to finance and mobilize action for the ocean.