Just Peace Dialogue: Climate and Peace

• Date: 22 June
• Time: 14:00 - 17:15
• Location: Universiteit Leiden - Wijnhaven

The Just Peace Dialogues will be held in English, with simultaneous translation into Dutch.

Today's world faces large-scale climate change and other environmental disruptions. Meeting these challenges requires profound adjustments to the economy and society, with significant potential for conflict and violence. This dialogue brings together leading authorities on the relationship between climate and peace, including speakers from civil society, government, universities and youth. The panel explores how climate change can be addressed in a way that minimizes war and maximizes peace.

Meet the panel

Anna Pot, National SDG Coordinator Netherlands

Anna Pot is National Coordinator, a role in which she promotes the national implementation of the SDGs in and by the Netherlands. The coordinator works closely with other ministries and organizations within the national government, as well as with the broad SDG movement in the Netherlands, including businesses, municipalities and provinces, NGOs, youth organizations, knowledge and educational institutions.

Moderator: Prof. Dr. Jan Willem Erisman

Jan Willem Erisman is professor of Environment and Sustainability at the Center for Environmental Sciences at Leiden University and chair of the Netherlands Scientific Climate Council.

Judith Verweijen, Utrecht University

Judith Verweijen is associate professor of political geography at Utrecht University. She specializes in the relationship between armed violence, resource conflicts and climate change in areas of protracted violence. She focuses on eastern Congo, where she has been doing occasional fieldwork since 2010. In 2024, Verweijen received an NWO Vidi grant for her research “Centering Armed Organizations in the Climate-Conflict Nexus” (CLIMCON).

Kumi Naidoo, fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty initiative

Kumi Naidoo is a South African human rights and environmental justice activist. He is currently President of the Fossil Fuel Nonproliferation Treaty and Payne Distinguished Lecturer at Stanford University. He is former Secretary General of Amnesty International (2018-2020) and also the first person from the South to lead Greenpeace International (2009-2015). He is an advisor for the Community Arts Network. He is a global ambassador for Africans Rising for Justice, Peace and Dignity. His family established the Riky Rick Foundation for the Promotion of Artivism to build on the positive legacy of popular South African rapper Rikhado "Riky Rick" Makhado through his music and life's work. Kumi is the author of the award-winning Letters To My Mother: The Makings of a Troublemaker. Kumi is also host of the podcast Power, People and Planet.

Laura Birkman, Director Climate, Water and Food Security at the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies

Laura Birkman is director of the Climate, Water and Food Security program at HCSS. She oversees and manages impactful initiatives, including the award-winning Water, Peace and Security (WPS) partnership, which develops innovative tools and services to identify and address water-related security risks. Laura is also a member of the International Military Council on Climate and Security (IMCCS).

Noemi Zenk-Agyei, World's Youth for Climate Justice

Noemi Zenk-Agyei is a climate activist and legal researcher at the intersection of environmental justice, international trade and human rights. She currently works for World's Youth for Climate Justice (WYCJ), where she has helped more than 130 countries mobilize the UN General Assembly to seek an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on climate change. Noemi has contributed to legal research on climate justice, climate finance and environmental peacebuilding, and co-founded a diaspora youth organization connecting African and European youth in global climate diplomacy.

Evenementenschema

• 13.30 Deuren open
• 14.00-15.10 Rondetafelgesprek
• 15.15-16.15 Groepsbijeenkomsten
• 16.15-17.15 Borrel

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