Norwegian expertise for the future of Ukraine (FRAM)
FRAM – Norwegian expertise for the future of Ukraine has as its main goal to strengthen expertise on Ukraine in Norwegian aid management, civil society, research and the private sector...
Managing climate, peace and security risks in the Lake Chad Region
The policy brief summarises findings from a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA), undertaken for the climate, peace and security risks in the Lake Chad region research project (CPS-Lake Chad). The publication is part of the project project 'Managing Climate, Peace and Security Risks in the Borderlands of the Lake Chad Region (CPS-Lake Chad)' which is funded by the Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy and Trends (XCEPT) research programme. It brings together world-leading experts and local researchers to examine conflict-affected borderlands, how conflicts connect across borders, and the drivers of violent and peaceful behaviour.
Morocco’s climate policy at a turning point under the EU CBAM
Morocco’s climate leadership is now tested by the European Union’s (EU) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which shifts attention from ambition to verifiable industrial performance. Despite strong renewable efforts, the carbon intensity of electricity and gaps in monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) readiness expose exporters to rising compliance pressure. The next phase of CBAM will also affect small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), many of which lack reporting and decarbonization capacity. Morocco now faces a turning point where climate ambition must translate into systems that support export competitiveness. A focused set of reforms can strengthen energy access, data credibility, and institutional coordination for a CBAM-ready transition. - Improve access to low-carbon electricity and streamline self-generation - Accelerate development of an MRV system with clear institutional roles, publicly available emission factors and reliable carbon emissions accounting tools. - Support SMEs with targeted CBAM-readiness tools, training and finance. - Consider gradual domestic carbon pricing to reduce CBAM costs and fund industrial decarbonization.
A Pathway to Security in the MENA: Integrating Subregional Electricity Markets
Despite being among the richest regions in energy, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is facing security and electricity crises. Grids are beset with technical challenges and gas dependence, and energy poverty is high amidst conflict. Integrated cross-border electricity markets can alleviate power shortages through trade. Yet MENA’s three subregional power markets are underutilized, trading 2% of electricity generated. This policy brief argues that governments must integrate each of the three MENA subregional grids into electricity markets, expanding to Iran and Türkiye. This is the most practical pathway and the first phase towards a MENA-wide integrated electricity market. States must undertake technical, institutional, and market reforms to transform MENA’s subregional grids into resilient, efficient and low-carbon integrated grids offering short-term stability and long-term security.
INFRAPOLITICS: Strengthening Critical Infrastructure Governance for Resilience and Security (INFRAPOL)
How does the geopoliticization of infrastructures interact with critical infrastructure (CI) protection and governance at the national level? ...
Reconciling Indonesia’s Climate Ambition: Who Gets to Shape the Policymaking Process?
Indonesia entered COP30 in Belém, Brazil, with more ambitious pledges, but the governance that produces those commitments has changed little. Successive Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) show greater ambition on paper yet remain shaped by a narrow technocratic circle, limited public participation, and growth-first economic assumptions. This expert-centered approach reveals a persistent tension between development priorities and the Paris Agreement’s goals. To strengthen credibility, ambition, and delivery before the next pledge-and-review cycle, Indonesia should: • Expand NDC involvement beyond the existing expert group. • Build a climate action coalition to coordinate national and local efforts. • Invest in capacity building while maintaining national control. • Publish comprehensive implementation roadmaps with well-defined targets and milestones. • Reduce reliance on FOLU and land-use sinks by accelerating energy and industrial decarbonization. • Rebuild strategic climate diplomacy to guide focused coalitions at COPs.
Transformative securitization: Rethinking the Copenhagen School in light of COVID-19, climate change, and the war in Ukraine
This article advances securitization theory by introducing the concept of transformative securitization, in which crises are not only framed as existential threats but also as catalysts for reconstituting political orders. Drawing on the Copenhagen School and Hannah Arendt’s notion of natality, the article distinguishes transformative securitization from conservative forms that aim to preserve the status quo. It conceptualizes transformative securitization through three dimensions: agency (bottom-up and participatory), procedure (disruptive yet potentially democratizing), and outcome (yielding durable institutional or normative change). Through empirical illustrations from Denmark and Norway’s responses to COVID-19, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and climate change, the article shows how securitization can both constrain and enable democratic transformation. It finds that while some responses reinforce executive power and narrow deliberative space, others—especially in climate politics—reflect participatory and future-oriented securitizing moves that can reconfigure societal sectors or entire polities. Climate change emerges as a paradigmatic case of transformative securitization, where intergenerational justice and systemic change are driven by civic agency. By bridging crisis and political founding, the concept refines securitization theory’s understanding of extraordinary politics and offers new tools to analyze the democratic potential and pitfalls of security responses in an era of overlapping, urgent predicaments.
Climate, Peace and Security Fact Sheet: Abyei
The Abyei Administrative Area, a disputed territory that lies between Sudan and South Sudan, faces complex interconnected challenges. Communities in Abyei largely depend on climate-sensitive livelihoods such as cattle herding, farming and seasonal migration. Increased flooding and prolonged dry spells in recent years have reduced crop yields, affected livestock rearing and displaced households, which has deepened existing livelihood and security challenges. Limited basic services and poor infrastructure, combined with weak governance, constrain the coping capacities of local communities and increase their need for humanitarian assistance. Yet funding cuts and insecurity have led some humanitarian organizations to scale back operations, while the civil war in Sudan continues to increase humanitarian needs in Abyei. The territory’s disputed status further impedes long-term development planning to address interconnected challenges, including climate-related security risks.
Book launch: America’s Middle East
NUPI invites you to a book launch with Marc Lynch and his new book America’s Middle East: The Ruination of a Region.