Past Event

A humanitarian exploration of climate security and environmental peacebuilding at EnPax

Friday, June 19, 2026: 11:00-12:30 EST

4th International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding
Jun 19, 2026 | 11.00 – 12.30h; Ottawa, Canada
Roundtable, in-person only
Conference theme: Reimagining Environmental Peacebuilding 

 

Session description 

Climate security research and high-level discussions have increasingly acknowledged the importance of local dynamics in the complex web of interactions between environment, climate, conflict, and peace. Humanitarians interact with and often address these local dynamics firsthand in their daily work with conflict- and disaster-affected communities. 

This roundtable will convene a range of humanitarian actors that have, over the course of the past years, increasingly looked towards climate security as a humanitarian topic of interest while navigating complexities linked to humanitarian mandates and principles. As humanitarian organizations turn to locally led adaptation as a tool to support communities affected by both conflict and climate risks, the way in which adaptation contributes to the landscape of climate security and peacebuilding is important to navigate. Together, we will explore current perspectives on climate security and environmental peacebuilding in the humanitarian sector – the relevance of climate security dynamics for humanitarian action, and the role humanitarians can play in contributing to local peacebuilding while adhering to their humanitarian mandates, addressing the economic, social, inter-communal and environmental precarities that undermine climate adaptation and social cohesion. 

Session objectives 

  • Explore the role of humanitarian organizations in climate security, building on practical examples by the panelists 
  • Discuss possible challenges of engaging with climate security and environmental peacebuilding from a humanitarian perspective, and how to jointly navigate these 
  • Identify opportunities for collaboration between humanitarians and the environmental peacebuilding community 

Round table participants 

  • Co-facilitator: Juliane Schillinger, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre 
  • Co-facilitator: Natasha Westheimer, Secretariat for the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organisations
  • Kate Proctor, Canadian Red Cross 
  • Jacopo Sarti, Humanity and Inclusion
  • Khadim Habibzai, Board Member of KARA NGO in Afghanistan & working with Warchild Canada 
  • Jacob Alier, EnPAx conference fellow (South Sudan, Uganda)
  • Anjali Vurden, EnPAx conference fellow (Mauritius)
  • TBC, Zamzam Foundation