Urbanization and Environment

​Yesterday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the second part of its Sixth Assessment Report. PRIO Research Professor Halvard Buhaug, who is a chapter lead author, presented findings at the Norwegian launch of the report.

​Halvard Buhaug is a chapter lead author in the forthcoming IPCC Sixth Assessment Report. ​The report will be launched Monday 28 February.

In a new study published in Nature Communications, PRIO researchers use a machine-learning analysis framework to identify leading predictors of contemporary asylum migration to the European Union. The study finds little evidence that climatic shocks or deteriorating economic conditions predict near-future arrivals of asylum seekers in Europe, contrasting commonly held notions of economy- and climate-driven asylum migrants. Instead, indicators capturing levels of political violence and violations of physical integrity rights in countries of origin are important predictors of asylum migration flows, suggesting that migrants are continuing to use the asylum system as intended – i.e., to seek international protection from a well-founded fear of persecution – despite the fact that most applicants ultimately are rejected refugee status. The article is a product of the ERC-funded CLIMSEC project and is published as open access.

Schutte, Sebastian; Jonas Vestby, Jørgen Carling & Halvard Buhaug (2021) Climatic conditions are weak predictors of asylum migration, Nature Communications 12: 2067.

The Journal of Peace Research has just published a new special issue on ‘Security implications of climate change’ (January 2021), guest edited by Nina von Uexkull and Halvard Buhaug. The special issue contains 12 original research articles and viewpoint essays, supplemented by an introductory article by the guest editors that presents a review the state of the art. This is the second time JPR dedicates a special issue to climate change and conflict; the first time was in 2012, edited by Nils Petter Gleditsch. The new issue represents the most up-to-date collection of studies on the subject. Several articles, including the introduction, are available as open access.

Read the special issue here.

​Congratulations to the team that has secured NORGLOBAL funding from the Research Council of Norway for the 3-year project Green Curses and Violent Conflicts: The Security Implications of Renewable Energy Sector Development in Africa. The project team consists of project leader Siri Aas Rustad (PRIO), Kendra Dupuy, John Andrew McNeish (NMBU), Stacy VanDeveer (University of Massachusetts Boston’s McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies), Carl Bruch (Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and Francis Mwesigye.

In his Nobel Peace address in 2018 Dr. Mukwege said: “When you drive your electric car; when you use your smart phone or admire your jewellery, take a minute to reflect on the human cost of manufacturing these objects.” 

The new research project “Green Curses and Violent Conflict” will examine the conditions under which increased investment in renewable energy could generate a new set of resource- and energy-related violent conflicts in Africa – a so-called “green curse” – and how to prevent and resolve these conflicts.

The workshop was co-organized by Nina von Uexkull and Halvard Buhaug and sponsored by the PRIO-based research project Climate Variability and Security Threats (CLIMSEC), funded by the European Research Council, and the Uppsala-based project on Climate Change, Food Insecurity and Violent Conflict, funded by the Swedish Research Council, SIDA, and FORMAS.

The Research Council of Norway (RCN) has just launched the final report of an evaluation of social sciences in Norway (SAMEVAL), emphasizing that PRIO is one of only five institutions in Norway recognized for hosting a world leading social science research environment. Together with the evaluation of the humanities (HUMEVAL), and the evaluation of the social science institutes (INSTEVAL), both completed last year, this completes PRIO’s part in a thorough and thought-provoking process. The two subject-specific evaluations looked at the impact of research at the national, institutional and research group level, providing useful feedback and recommendations to PRIO’s different disciplines and (multi-disciplinary) research groups.

The three evaluations consistently demonstrate the recognition of PRIO as a leading academic environment, in Norway as well as internationally.