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

For Indonesia, an “Energy Addition” Strategy is Not Enough (Mongabay)

In Java and Sumatra, widespread blackouts are emphasizing the need for a broader expedited energy transition. Indonesia’s reliance on a centralized and coal-dominated system has led to excess emissions and pollution that detracts from sustainable transitions implemented in other regions. The Java-Bali region accounts for 61% of carbon dioxide and fine particulate (PM2.5) emissions across Indonesia’s entire coal fleet, with six specific plants there responsible for 1/3 of the country’s coal-sector CO2 and PM2.5 emissions. Continued use of coal power plants also erodes progress towards Indonesia’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2060.

This article was originally published by the Center for Global Development.

This spring in Washington, DC, World Bank president Ajay Banga announced a major new initiative, “Water Forward,” with an ambition to help deliver water security to more than a billion people by 2030. The World Bank lending portfolio currently includes over $3 billion for 81 active water supply projects across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We scanned the project paperwork for one word: lead.

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

The New United Nations Blueprint for a Sustainable Future (United Nations)

From global shipping disruptions to conflict in the Strait of Hormuz, nonrenewable energy dependence has taken a toll on the international community. In a keynote speech at London Climate Action Week, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres outlined a seven-step plan for UN energy independence which highlighted a clean transition from fossil fuels: “These crises may seem separate, but they share the same destructive origin: fossil fuels.”

In the coming months, El Niño is expected to worsen drought, flood, heat, and storm conditions around the world. Despite its potential to amplify existing vulnerabilities and crises, there has been a lack of policymaking and preparation to counter the potential impacts. While some drier regions, like the Middle East, could actually benefit from El Niño effects such as heavy rain in arid areas, other places face undeniable danger from extreme heat, “weather whiplash,” and unpredictable storms.  

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

Data Collection Supports and Protects Kenya’s Fishing Communities (Mongabay)

Across Kenya, local beach management units (BMUs) have a legal mandate to support fisheries data by submitting information to the government (such as catch type, weight, and location) to address the ongoing decline of the country’s fish stocks. Yet a lack of transparency and insufficient real-time data means there is a strong need for improvement in these efforts. So Kenya has created the Asia-Africa BlueTech Superhighway, a new program devised in collaboration with Malaysia-based nonprofit WorldFish, to address data-collection issues for the next seven years.

This article was adapted from “Quantifying Climate Risk and Ocean Vulnerability,” published by the 11th Our Ocean Conference Secretariat. 

Coastal cities dependent on both inland resources and marine environments face a uniquely complex vulnerability to climate change. Rising seas, intensifying storms, and shifting ecosystems are no longer abstract projections; they are daily realities reshaping economies, infrastructure, and livelihoods. Recognizing a need for targeted action, the Stimson Center launched an ambitious effort under the Our Ocean Conference to better understand and ultimately reduce climate risk in vulnerable coastal communities. 

“Only one thing now stands between the ocean and the capital it needs: the decision to act. And a delayed decision is never neutral. The cost of waiting…is paid by those who come after us,” said HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco at the Blue Economy and Finance Forum in Monaco last month. 

This year’s BEFF brought together policymakers, business leaders, investors, banks, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and philanthropies to strengthen the science, policy, and finance connections at the core of the sustainable blue economy. Over the two days, a few key themes emerged.  

This article was originally published on The Science Diplomat.

For decades, scientists have warned that rising seas would increase the risk of coastal flooding. What has been harder to determine is how much of that risk can be directly attributed to human-caused climate change at specific locations. A new study led by Climate Central suggests that answer is becoming clearer.