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Dans quelle mesure l’environnement peut-il être utilisé comme arme de guerre par les belligérants ? Comment peut-on mesurer l’impact des conflits sur l’environnement ? Dans ce nouvel épisode, Mathilde Jourde, co-directrice de l’Observatoire Défense et Climat et responsable du programme « Climat, environnement et sécurité » à l’IRIS, s’entretient avec François Grünewald, président et fondateur du groupe URD (Urgence – Réhabilitation – Développement), qui étudie depuis plus de trente ans l’empreinte environnementale des conflits à travers le monde. Depuis l’invasion russe de l’Ukraine en février 2022, il multiplie les missions sur le terrain afin d’évaluer les impacts directs et indirects des affrontements sur les écosystèmes. Ces effets, variés et profonds, relèvent à la fois de dommages collatéraux liés aux opérations militaires et de l’usage délibéré de l’environnement comme instrument de guerre. François Grünewald revient également sur l’influence des changements climatiques sur les zones de combat et sur les défis environnementaux liés à la future reconstruction du pays. Face à l’ampleur des destructions observées, il s’interroge enfin sur la possibilité de qualifier certains actes de crimes environnementaux constitutifs de crimes de guerre dans le contexte de l’agression russe en Ukraine.  

Crédits 

« Sur le front climatique » est un podcast de l’Observatoire Défense & Climat produit par l’IRIS pour le compte de la DGRIS du ministère des Armées. Cet entretien a été enregistré à l’IRIS. 

Sur le front climatique · Empreinte environnementale des conflits et usage de l'environnement comme arme. Avec F. Grünewald

L’article Empreinte environnementale des conflits et usage de l’environnement comme arme. Avec François Grünewald est apparu en premier sur IRIS.

Dakar accueille du 17 au 20 décembre un colloque international pour rendre hommage à Frantz Fanon. Dans un entretien avec BBC News Afrique, Mamadou Diallo, doctorant à l'université Columbia de New York, membre du comité d'organisation dudit colloque, en explique les enjeux.

The country proposes stricter rules on e-cigarettes, including provisions enabling product bans

For Spain's prime minister, everything seems fine as long as he guarantees his own political survival

Ursula von der Leyen had hoped to sign the agreement in Brazil this week

The current framework was almost at the end of a temporary six-month extension

History doesn’t suggest a demilitarized zone in eastern Ukraine would work.

The agreement still has to survive a complex vote in the Parliament

The searches come at a sensitive moment for Dati, who is running for mayor of Paris in next year’s election

France is under pressure to rein in its deficit and soaring debt, but efforts have been hampered by political deadlock

US attacks against the Digital Services Act (DSA) have sharply escalated since the Commission's recent €120 million DSA fine on Elon Musk's social media platform X

Wind turbine operators will receive €115 per MWh and cover roughly a tenth of current demand

In today's edition: Energy security, global heating, Arctic shipping, black carbon emissions

La nature duale des technologies provenant des écosystèmes chinois et américain
conduit les deux pays à entrer en rivalité selon le modèle de la course aux armes avec peu de
leviers pour réduire l’intensité de cette compétition. Cette note propose d’examiner les
caractéristiques de cette structure sociale de rivalité technologique selon ce modèle de course
aux armes et d’identifier les facteurs structurant de cette situation.

À télécharger

• Lire la note (PDF)

L’article La rivalité technologique sino-américaine est-elle une course aux écosystèmes ? est apparu en premier sur IRIS.

En 2025, une nouvelle génération de jeunes Africains s’est imposée comme un moteur décisif d’innovation, d’influence et de transformation sociale. Cet article met en lumière celles et ceux qui ont marqué l’année par leurs initiatives audacieuses, qu’ils soient créateurs de contenus, entrepreneurs, acteurs de la société civile, militants écologiques ou geeks.

By CIVICUS
Dec 19 2025 (IPS)

 
CIVICUS discusses climate displacement and Tuvalu’s future with Kiali Molu, a former civil servant at Tuvalu’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and currently a PhD candidate at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji and the University of Bergen in Norway. His research focuses on state sovereignty and climate change in the Pacific.

Kiali Molu

In Tuvalu, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations, rising seas and intensifying storms have made life increasingly precarious. Over 80 per cent of people have applied for Australia’s new climate visa under a treaty signed in November 2023. Under the treaty, 280 Tuvaluans can resettle in Australia each year through a ballot system. While recognising Australia’s willingness to host Tuvaluans, civil society continues to pressure major emitters, including Australia, to cut greenhouse gas emissions and fund climate adaptation measures in vulnerable countries to prevent further displacement.

Why have so many Tuvaluans applied for Australia’s climate mobility visa?

This visa is part of the Falepili Union Treaty agreed by Australia and Tuvalu. The treaty combines a special mobility pathway, guarantees around Tuvalu’s statehood and sovereignty and a broader security arrangement. Under the mobility component, Tuvaluans can apply for residency in Australia through a ballot system, without being forced to permanently relocate.

Many applications are driven by practical reasons, such as employment opportunities to be able to support families back home. Others value the ability to travel more freely, particularly given Australia’s historically long and uncertain visa processes. Access to education opportunities and social protections also matter. What’s important is that selection under this pathway does not require people to leave Tuvalu. It creates choice and security in a context where the future feels increasingly uncertain.

How is climate change reshaping daily life in Tuvalu?

Rising sea levels and frequent king tides regularly flood homes, public buildings and roads, interrupting community gatherings, education and work. Coastal erosion continues to reduce habitable land, while saltwater intrusion contaminates groundwater and destroys pulaka pits that are central to food security, as they’re used to grow staple root crops.

These impacts extend beyond infrastructure: higher reliance on imported food means families face rising costs, and stagnant water means a rise in waterborne diseases. Constant flooding is increasing anxiety about displacement and cultural continuity, and farming and fishing livelihoods are becoming harder to sustain. Climate change affects our food, health, housing and identity every single day.

What does potential resettlement mean for Tuvaluan culture and identity?

Our identity is inseparable from our community, our land and the ocean surrounding it. Tuvaluan culture is rooted in fenua – shared practices around agriculture and fishing, church life and the falekaupule, a community meeting house. Large-scale resettlement risks disrupting these foundations. The transmission of everyday cultural practices, language and oral history may weaken if younger Tuvaluans grow up away from the islands.

However, mobility doesn’t automatically mean cultural loss. Tuvaluan communities abroad are finding ways to preserve collective life, language and traditions through associations, churches and digital platforms. Initiatives such as the Tuvalu Digital Nation aim to safeguard cultural heritage virtually. Still, there is no substitute for ancestral land, and this raises profound questions about what it means to be Tuvaluan if our homeland becomes uninhabitable.

What climate adaptation measures does Tuvalu urgently need?

Adaptation for Tuvalu is not only about renewable energy and seawalls. While these remain essential, there’s also a critical legal and political dimension. The international system still defines statehood on the basis of physical territory, offering little protection to nations facing permanent land loss due to climate change.

We believe Tuvalu should push for a new global legal framework that rethinks sovereignty in the context of climate displacement. This would protect Tuvalu’s international legal personality, maritime boundaries and political rights even if parts of its territory become uninhabitable. This diplomatic strategy is needed as much as physical adaptation measures because it addresses national survival, not just infrastructure resilience.

What responsibilities do major polluters have towards climate-vulnerable states?

Major polluters have legal and moral obligations towards climate-vulnerable countries. International law increasingly recognises duties to reduce emissions, prevent environmental harm and cooperate in protecting those most at risk. Recent legal developments, including advisory opinions from international courts, reinforce that these responsibilities are enforceable, not optional.

These obligations go beyond emissions cuts. They include providing climate finance through mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund and the Loss and Damage Fund, supporting adaptation efforts and sharing technology. For countries like Tuvalu, this support is fundamental to preserving lives, culture and sovereignty. Continued inaction by major emitters should not be seen solely as political failure, but also as a breach of international law.

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SEE ALSO
‘The ICJ’s advisory opinion strengthens climate justice by establishing legal principles states cannot ignore’ CIVICUS Lens | Interview with Abdul Shaheed 24.Sep.2025
International Court of Justice signals end to climate impunity CIVICUS Lens 01.Aug.2025
‘Australia must turn its climate rhetoric into action’ CIVICUS Lens | Interview with Jacynta Fa’amau 27.Sep.2024

 

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REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the acceleration of permit-granting for defence readiness projects
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection
Committee on Security and Defence
Lucia Yar, Henrik Dahl

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the acceleration of permit-granting for defence readiness projects
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection
Committee on Security and Defence
Lucia Yar, Henrik Dahl

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

In today's edition: Omnibus committees, 11-year privacy battle, child safety panel