On the same day Japan began wastewater releases from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in late August 2023, the website of China’s customs agency announced the country would “completely suspend the import of aquatic products originating from Japan.”

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

Severe Water Crisis in Gaza

As intensive coverage of the war in Gaza has waned, the severe water crisis there has only worsened. Constant bombardment is impacting water production and distribution networks, forcing children and families are using water from unsafe sources.

China is the world’s largest emitter of methane, a short-lived climate pollutant that traps 80 times more heat than carbon. Coal mining, agriculture, and food waste are China’s three biggest methane emitters. Among them, food waste holds the most promise for near-term climate action. 

At a recent Wilson Center event, hosted in partnership with USAID’s MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity Project, Dr. Folake Olayinka, Immunization Technical Lead of the Global Health Bureau at USAID, described a recent two year period as “the largest sustained backsliding of childhood vaccination,” citing the fact that “between 2019 and 2021, approximately 67 million children missed out on essential lifesaving vaccines.”

As climate-related disasters swell in scale and intensity, the countries and communities impacted by fragility or conflict are among the most vulnerable. The explicit focus on relief, recovery, and peace at COP28 offered the international community a clear acknowledgement that climate and conflict increasingly overlap.

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

COP28 Extension Produces a New Agreement

In the closing moments of COP28, the almost 200 countries in attendance settled on a deal for a roadmap that would include a reference to “phasing out fossil fuels.” This language was a step toward highlighting the inevitability of this transition in order to address climate change.

Throughout history, women have played crucial leadership roles during wartime, even if their contributions were not always well-documented or recognized. In times of conflict, societal norms sometimes shift, allowing women to step into positions of authority that might have been traditionally reserved for men. Despite indisputable evidence of women’s leadership and bravery during conflict, however, women continue to be construed as “victims” and “passive actors”—rather than the political agents, leaders, soldiers, and visionaries that they are.