Curated expert opinion on intractable contemporary issues
Global Outlook Articles by Volker Boege
Volker Boege is Toda Peace Institute's Senior Research Fellow for Climate Change and Conflict. Dr. Boege has worked extensively in the areas of peacebuilding and resilience in the Pacific region. He works on post-conflict peacebuilding, hybrid political orders and state formation, non-Western approaches to conflict transformation, environmental degradation and conflict, with a regional focus on Oceania.
Filling the Basket of Knowledge: Workshop on Climate Change, Human Mobility and Peacebuilding in the Pacific
By Volker Boege | 14 November, 2022
A recent workshop held in Wellington, New Zealand, explored the consequences of the hellish climate change scenario for the security and peace of communities and countries in the Pacific region. At the same time, participants searched for pathways off the highway to hell, tapping into the expertise and experiences of a diverse group of policymakers, practitioners and researchers from the Pacific and beyond.
Pacific Leaders Urge Re-Focus on Climate Emergency
By Volker Boege | 29 September, 2022
At the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2022, the leaders of the small island – or ‘big ocean’ – countries in the Pacific called for a re-focus on the global climate emergency. Using their moral authority, which is grounded in the fact that their countries are the ones most affected by this emergency while contributing hardly anything to its causes, Pacific leaders demanded more decisive climate action and put forward new proposals and initiatives.
Climate Change, Not China, the Most Important Security Concern for Pacific Island Countries
By Volker Boege | 02 August, 2022
The meeting of the leaders of the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) countries in Suva, Fiji, in mid-July drew more international attention from beyond the region than usual, as it took place at a time of increasing geo-strategic competition between USA and China. Moreover, it was the first in-person meeting of leaders since 2019. For the last two years, the COVID pandemic has made such meetings impossible.
The Latest IPCC Report: No Good News for Pacific Islands Countries
By Volker Boege | 01 April, 2022
The latest IPCC report on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability shows that the effects of climate change are more severe than previously thought, that the situation will deteriorate globally faster than expected if no decisive action is taken now, and it highlights that low-lying island nations and islands will be hardest hit and be faced with truly existential threats. This is bad news particularly for the Pacific Island Countries (PICs).
Tiny Pacific Atolls Battered by King Tides as IPCC Makes Big Waves
By Volker Boege | 05 March, 2022
On 25 February, the government of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea (PNG) declared a State of Emergency in the Atolls Constituency of the region. On 28 February, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its latest climate science report. While the state of emergency in Bougainville was hardly noticed internationally, the release of the IPCC report drew comprehensive international attention
Pacific Voices Loud and Clear at COP26
By Volker Boege | 04 December, 2021
Only a few Pacific Islanders made it to Glasgow in November 2021 for COP26. Out of the approximately 30,000 conference attendees, only about 140 were from Pacific Island Countries (PICs). Due to COVID-19 restrictions, both government delegations and civil society representation were considerably smaller than at previous COPs.
The views and opinions expressed in Global Outlook are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Toda Peace Institute.