In the Mistra Geopolitics film “Managing crises – conflict, pandemics and food insecurity” Henrik Hammargren, Nina von Uexkull, Dan Smith and Frida Lager – experts within the Mistra Geopolitics programme – discuss how to handle food insecurity, conflicts, climate change and pandemics.
In 2022, we see several geopolitical and environmental crises: food prices rise because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a major breadbasket of the world.
At the same time, climate change is increasingly felt according to the latest IPCC assessment report, and the world is still grappling with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. These crises call for urgent answers to several questions.
In essence, peace and nature are connected, if you damage one you damage the other. If you protect one, you enhance the other, said Dan Smith, Director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Watch “Managing crises – conflict, pandemics and food insecurity”
Nina von Uexkull, Associate Professor at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University and team lead within Mistra Geopolitics said:
Now the Ukraine crises is affecting global food prices and crises elsewhere – for example through increasing food prices – but also through diverting donor attention.
Frida Lager, SEI Research Fellow said:
Both Russia and Ukraine are important producers of wheat worldwide. Together they amount to around 30% of the global export market of wheat. Russia is also an important producer of fertilizer.
Nina von Uexkull continued:
A contribution from the Mistra Geopolitics research programme is to understand how aid flows will be affected. And, how these compounding crises will have implications for global food security.
Mistra Geopolitics experts
- Henrik Hammargren, Executive Director of Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and Board Member of Mistra Geopolitics
- Nina von Uexkull, Associate Professor at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University
- Dan Smith, Director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
- Frida Lager, Research Associate at Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)
About the video
This video was produced by the Mistra Geopolitics research programme, led by Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and funded by Mistra, the Swedish foundation for strategic environmental research.
Script by Ylva Rylander and Maria Cole at SEI and Mistra Geopolitics. Voice-over by Andrea Lindblom at SEI. Video production by Johan Söderlund.