ECCP: New declaration on Land, Peace, and Security
And so many resources...
Dear Colleagues,
Another week, another set of resources and invitations to engage with others on environment, climate, conflict, and peace issues. I hope you are doing well!
If you’re new to the ECCP, welcome. Watch the recording of our February 2026 New Member orientation here. You can follow the ECCP conversation on WhatsApp in our three groups: English, French, or Spanish. In 2025, we also launched an ECCP LinkedIn group, by popular request.
Our next general monthly networking meeting will be held Tuesday 23 June at 14h CET. You can register your interest on this sign-up sheet if you’d like to receive calendar invitations for our monthly meetings.
Consultation on declaration on Land, Peace, and Security
As part of the ECCP initiative to strengthen linkages across the Rio Conventions, Surge Africa is leading a CSO-led Declaration on Land, Peace and Security, to be presented at UNCCD COP17 in Mongolia this August.
You can find more information about the process here and read the draft Declaration text here.
Land insecurity is rising globally, yet the peace and security dimensions remain under-represented in international policy discussions. The UNCCD does not currently have a mandate to address this intersection, and no COP decisions explicitly reference it. The Declaration seeks to help fill this gap. Developed as a collective awareness-raising and advocacy effort, Surge Africa invites organisations across regions and sectors to contribute to the development, dissemination, and endorsement of the Declaration.
The Declaration aims to place the land–peace nexus at the centre of international action by demonstrating how land restoration can strengthen community resilience, conflict prevention, and peacebuilding in FCAS. It is structured around four pillars:
Governance: Inclusive and conflict-sensitive land and climate policies.
Finance: Equitable and accessible land–peace–climate financing.
Partnerships: Collaboration across civil society, governments, private sector, and South–South networks.
Implementation & Monitoring: Locally driven action, learning, and accountability.
There are several ways you can engage:
1. Respond to the global survey. Your inputs will directly inform the final Declaration and the advocacy efforts of Surge Africa and ECCP members at COP17. Results will be shared ahead of the COP. Even if you have already completed the survey, a second round is required to distinguish between UNCCD-accredited and non-accredited organisations; both categories will be reflected in the final analysis.
2. Participate in the consultation meetings. Surge Africa will host a dedicated session on Wednesday 20th at 14:00 CET to present the Declaration and gather feedback. Register for that session here. Additional sessions will be scheduled to accommodate American and Asian time zones. These consultations aim to reflect the collective vision of civil society across regions, including shared challenges, obstacles, and opportunities.
3. Endorse the Declaration. Broad CSO endorsement is essential to build momentum around land, peace, and security at COP17. A diverse coalition will strengthen the visibility and legitimacy of the initiative.
4. Collaborate during UNCCD COP17. Surge Africa will be present on the ground to disseminate the Declaration and advocate for stronger recognition of the land–peace nexus. They will also release a 2–3 minute animated video illustrating vulnerabilities, challenges, and opportunities across Latin America, West Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. If you plan to attend COP17, Surge Africa would welcome collaboration, including speaking at side events, hosting the video in pavilion spaces, and would welcome your attendance during the high-level launch session in Mongolia. Your presence and engagement will be key to ensuring a strong and visible launch.
For participation or further information, please contact gabriel@surgeafrica.org. Additional information is available on the Skylark Center for Climate Security’s website and LinkedIn page.
Surge Africa welcomes engagement from all stakeholders (NGOs, private sector actors, IFIs, UN entities, and governments) and looks forward to your organisation’s contribution to this collective effort.
Upcoming ECCP meetings
We’ve got all kinds of community meetings coming up. There are in-person meet-ups this month in Berlin & The Hague. There is the above-mentioned online consultation on the Land, Peace, and Security declaration. There are working group meetings on the green transition, complexity, decolonization, security, and more.
And there are a set of in-person meet-ups happening on the sidelines of the environmental peacebuilding conference in Ottawa.
How can you know what’s happening? Check out the ECCP 2026 Activity page calendar: https://www.ecosystemforpeace.org/2026.
Will you be in Ottawa? We have a separate whatsapp group for coordination - email ecosystemforpeace@gmail.com to join.
Decolonization and the ECCP
On 28 April, the Decolonization Discussion Group mapped out the assets we believe we (as individuals and as a community) possess that aid us in both decolonizing the field and the ECCP. We’d like to explore more concrete steps towards decolonizing the ECCP in future meetings. Please explore the “asset map” on this document here, and add your own thoughts or questions to it!
Related resources
I’m pleased to share a number of related resources here:
Training: Climate-Environment-Security and Defence Nexus, application deadline 15 May (learn more here)
Workshop in The Hague - 26 May: Let’s Talk Environment, Climate and Conflict: An Interactive Workshop (learn more here)
Training: Law, Policy and Science in Environmental Peacebuilding Training, application deadline 30 May (learn more here)
Online event - 2 June: Eyes at the Last Mile: Ethical Impact Storytelling for Environmental Peacebuilding (learn more here)
New conference: 1st International Conference on Peace Engineering (learn more here)
Article: Climate Adaptation and Peacebuilding Keep Missing Each Other (read here)
Article: Wars destroy lives and the climate. Why aren’t we counting military emissions? (read here)
Article: Intersections between socio-environmental conflict and climate vulnerability in Santa María del Carbón, Honduras (read here)
Article: Traditional Rulers Are Helping Shape Conflict-Sensitive Conservation in Faro (read here)
I’ll stop myself here, and thank all of you for sharing these resources and opportunities with each other. Please keep them coming, and I’ll circulate more in the next edition, too. I wish you a good second half of your week, and look forward to hopefully seeing you online soon!
Warmly,
Annika