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Janpeter Schilling

University of Koblenz-Landau

Janpeter Schilling is Junior Professor for Landuse Conflicts, Head of the Research Group Landuse Conflicts at the Institute for Environmental Sciences, and Scientific Director of the Peace Academy Rhineland-Palatinate at the University of Koblenz-Landau. He previously worked as associated and postdoctoral researcher in the Research Group Climate Change and Security at the University of Hamburg. He has conducted extensive research in the field of natural resource conflicts, climate change vulnerability, and peacebuilding.
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publication
A political ecology perspective on resource extraction and human security in Kenya, Bolivia and Peru

This paper analyzes how the governance of non-renewable natural resources affects different dimensions of human security in local sites of extraction. We show how the analysis of human security can be embedded in a multi-scalar political ecology perspective to combine the strong suits of both approaches: a detailed, multi-dimensional assessment of impacts on the local scale with a critical transformative view on the interplay of power asymmetries mediating the distribution of costs and benefits across actors and scales. More specifically, we look at four of the most prominent ‘glocal’ governance instruments in extractive industries: participatory environmental licensing processes, indigenous prior consultation and free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs and legal formalization initiatives. In theory, these governance initiatives should ensure local benefits and contribute to human security in three dimensions: (1) environmental security, (2) livelihood security and (3) safety and political security. However, our comparative analysis of ‘glocal’ governance institutions in oil and gas extraction in Bolivia and Kenya as well as in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in Peru shows that these institutions are rather ineffective in protecting the human security of local communities.

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publication
Climate change vulnerability, water resources and social implications in North Africa

North Africa is considered a climate change hot spot. Existing studies either focus on the physical aspects of climate change or discuss the social ones. The present article aims to address this divide by assessing and comparing the climate change vulnerability of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia and linking it to its social implications. The vulnerability assessment focuses on climate change exposure, water resources, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. The results suggest that all countries are exposed to strong temperature increases and a high drought risk under climate change. Algeria is most vulnerable to climate change, mainly due to the country’s high sensitivity. Across North Africa, the combination of climate change and strong population growth is very likely to further aggravate the already scarce water situation. The so-called Arab Spring has shown that social unrest is partly caused by unmet basic needs of the population for food and water. Thus, climate change may become an indirect driver of social instability in North Africa. To mitigate the impact of climate change, it is important to reduce economic and livelihood dependence on rain-fed agriculture, strengthen sustainable land use practices, and increase the adaptive capacity. Further, increased regional cooperation and sub-national vulnerability assessments are needed.

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publication
An Environment of Insecurity: The Relationship between Environmental Change and Violent Conflict in Northwest Kenya

About the book: Security threats today are increasingly complex, dynamic, and asymmetric, and can affect environmental factors like energy, water, and food supply. As a result, it is becoming evident that the traditional model of nation-state based security is incomplete, and that purely military capabilities, though necessary, are insufficient to protect the United States and other democracies from the array of threats that challenge liberty and the free flow of people and commerce. A more complete picture of modern national security requires a more complete integration of the question of environmental security. The purpose of this text is to better address the many aspects of environmental security and to represent this major area of academic research in an introductory text format that can be used in the rapidly growing number of homeland security studies programs as well as related degree programs. The concepts, challenges, and case studies in this text vitally extended such curricula, giving students a deeper appreciation for the critical role environmental security plays in overall state security, as well as for our nation, our way of life, and indeed for the human race at large.

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publication
A local to global perspective on resource governance and conflict

This article serves as an introduction to the special issue ‘A Local to Global Perspective on Resource Governance and Conflict’. It advances the debate on natural resource governance and conflict by bringing together three different strands of literature with the aim of developing a local to global research perspective and framework for analysis. First, this article reviews and identifies research gaps in the literatures on (1) the resource curse, (2) environmental security and (3) the large-scale acquisition of land and natural resources. Second, it addresses the previously identified research gaps by developing a local to global research perspective and a corresponding analytical framework. The final section of this contribution summarises the key findings of the articles presented in the special issue and outlines their policy implications.

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