Ecological Climate Threats at the Intersection of Peace Systems and Environmental Thinking: A Scoping Review

This scoping literature review explores the intersection of positive and sustainable peace frameworks and environmental thinking surrounding climate change induced ecological threats. Utilising a modified PRISMA-ScR protocol, the study used qualitative thematic coding to analyse forty-three articles selected from Scopus and Web of Science databases. Nine key concepts were identified, including climate as a multiplier, resource governance, systemic inequality, resilience, participatory governance, bottom-up/top-down approaches, environmental/climate factors impacting peace systems, peace systems impacting environment, and feedback loops. The findings reveal that integration between these fields remains somewhat limited in academics and practice, however environmental factors and peace systems are deeply interconnected. Relevant gaps identified included a lack of comparative case studies and insufficient attention to the manners in which different forms of intersecting inequalities shape adaptive capacities, particularly in marginalised communities. The review recommends developing adaptable best practices and cataloguing tailored, participatory, and grassroot strategies and programmes into a widely accessible database for practitioners at every scale. Implications of the review are relevant to academic pursuits and provide information to connect theory with practical policy development and implementation.