Today’s episode explores the intersections of war and its impact on the environment using contemporary conflicts across Palestine/Israel, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sudan.
2023 brought about the beginning of horrific wars and humanitarian crises in the Middle East and Africa. This episode explores these crises and how they are impacting the air, land, and water in each place.
Disclaimer: This episode is not entirely objective. Nor is it a comprehensive deep dive into the history of these locations and the root causes of each conflict.
EPISODE RESOURCES
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RESOURCES FOR PALESTINE
- World Bank Group: Country profile: Israel
- The Guardian: Emissions from Israel’s war in Gaza have ‘immense’ effect on climate catastrophe
- The Guardian: The climate costs of war and militaries can no longer be ignored
- Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability
- Al-Shabaka: Farming Palestine for Freedom
- Al-Shabaka: Climate Change, the Occupation, and a Vulnerable Palestine
- Wall Street Journal: How Hamas Turned an Israeli Music Festival Into a Massacre
- Last Week Tonight: Israel-Hamas War
- The song used during the Palestine section is “Palestine Will Be Free” by Maher Zain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRUOme_TiRs
RESOURCES FOR THE DRC
- World Bank Group: Country Profile: Congo, Dem. Rep.
- Fauna & Flora: Democratic Republic of Congo: Conservation in a conflict zone.
- The New York Times: How the U.S. Lost Ground to China in the Contest for Clean Energy
- The New York Times: Mining Congo: A Global Power Play
- Global Conflict Tracker: Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo
- Global Forest Coalition: Whose Land, Whose Forests? The Gendered Impacts and Colonial Roots of Extractive Industries
- Amnesty International: “This is What We Die For”: Human Rights Abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Power the Global Trade in Cobalt.”
- Amnesty International: Democratic Republic of the Congo: Industrial mining of cobalt and copper for rechargeable batteries is leading to grievous human rights abuses
- USAID: Democratic Republic of the Congo Water Resources Profile Overview
- BBC: The forgotten mine that built the atomic bomb
- The song used during the Congo section can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DbSo0OYhAc
RESOURCES FOR SUDAN
- World Bank Group: Country profile: Sudan
- Sudan’s Fourth National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity
- Biodiversity of Sudan: between the harsh conditions, political instability and civil wars
- International Trade Administration: Sudan Agricultural Sections
- OCHA: Sudan Humanitarian Update (25 January 2024)
- OCHA: Sudan: Nine months of conflict Key Facts and Figures
- United Nations: UN expert says human rights violations rage on in Sudan
- National Library of Medicine: Conflict and Emerging Infectious Diseases
- Arab Center Washington DC: The US and the Sudan Conflict: Motives and Ability to Influence Events
- Human Rights Watch: “They Were Shouting ‘Kill Them’: Sudan’s Violent Crackdown on Protesters in Khartoum
- Harvard Political Review: Seven Months into the War in Sudan: Reflections From a Sudanese National
- The song used during the Sudan section is “The Land of Good” by Ibrahim al-Kashif: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYjuz5NiYzw
SPEAK ENVIRONMENT 