While the link between climate change and conflict is fiercely debated, a generalised sense of fragility is spreading around the world. It is therefore increasingly relevant to ask: where are the seeds of violent conflict being sown today? When do environmental conflicts turn violent? How are military and environmental conflicts related? And what role do resource exploitation and militarisation play in environmental destruction and, in turn, rising tension?

From Ukraine and Ghana to the world’s militaries, we hear about how the destruction and exploitation of the environment is linked to conflicts old and new. We look at the violent currents underlying the push towards greener energy and technology, the struggle over the transition, and the environmental impact of growing tensions. The picture that emerges is that of hot conflicts and conditions for spillovers.

• Military emissions are a black box, by Linsey Cottrell
• Ghana’s small-scale mining menace, by Jennifer Kwao and Gifty Obeng
• Ukraine’s Resource Curse, by Raluca Besliu