Peacekeeping in the Anthropocene: Changing Law for a Changing Climate (PeaceCLaCC)

^{UNMISS road maintenance, © Rikujojieitai Boueisho (Japan Ground Self-Defense Force), CC-BY-SA-3.0}

• Description
• Updates
• Project team

Workshop on 19 October 2026 - Call for Papers

Description

The project “Peacekeeping in the Anthropocene: Changing Law for a Changing Climate” (PeaceCLaCC), which is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), started at the Chair of Prof Binder in October 2025.

Peace-CLaCC explores how the effects of climate change – the core non-traditional security challenge of the 21st century – change the deployment and operation of international and regional peacekeeping operations (PKOs). There is scattered institutional practice by a wide variety of organizations including the United Nations (UN) on this topic, matched by a patchwork of legal and policy instruments on how climate change-related effects might or must be considered by PKOs. So far, there has been no comprehensive legal analysis on what legal obligations arise in the context of PKOs through ‘a changing climate’. Peace-CLaCC – on the basis of three case scenarios – will investigate how PKOs align with general mitigation and adaptation obligations arising under international (climate change and/or security) law and assess which legal obligations this evokes. It will particularly focus on the extent to which existing international obligations can be used to support and enhance the role of PKOs in addressing the challenges posed by climate change. Through this, the project will identify areas where additional obligations or institutional frameworks may be needed to address emerging threats and challenges to international peace and security caused by climate change.

Updates

Conferences and Presentations

"UN Peacekeeping in the Anthropocene: Climate-Law Obligations of International Obligations" (Haris Huremagić and Salman Khan) | Panel: Reimagining Security in Times of Climate Change in a Fractured World | 2026 ICON•S Annual Conference – Reimagining Public Law for a Fractured World, 29 June-1 July 2026 (Dublin, Ireland)

"Securitizing Climate Change: Risks and Possibilities for International Law" (Jane A Hofbauer) | Panel: Reimagining Security in Times of Climate Change in a Fractured World | 2026 ICON•S Annual Conference – Reimagining Public Law for a Fractured World, 29 June-1 July 2026 (Dublin, Ireland)

"Zukunft des Peacekeeping im Licht des Klimavölkerrechts" (Haris Huremagić and Salman Khan) | Panel: Zukunftsfähigkeit der kollektiven Sicherheit | 49. Österreichischer Völkerrechtstag – 80+1 Jahre Vereinte Nationen: Ist der Multilateralismus zukunftsfähig?, 11-13 June 2026 (Ossiach, Austria)

Publications

Haris Huremagić and Salman Khan, 'The Dismantling of UN Peace Operations under the Trump Administration' (EJIL: Talk!, 10 February 2026)

Jane A Hofbauer and Philipp Janig, 'Friedenssicherung in Zeiten des Klimawandels: Wieso Klimagerechtigkeit auch friedenserhaltende Missionen betrifft' (2025) 5(2) Nachhaltigkeitsrecht: Zeitschrift für das Recht der nachhaltigen Entwicklung 129-137

Philipp Janig, Jane A Hofbauer and Christina Binder, 'Peacekeeping in the Anthropocene: The Effects of Climate Change and Positive Human Rights Obligations in ‘Protection of Civilians’ Mandates' (2023) 26 Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law 602-630

Project team

Prof Christina Binder, Project lead

Salman Khan, Researcher

Dr Philipp Janig, Affiliated Researcher

Lukas Francke, Student Assistant