Clare Church is a Policy Analyst for IISD’s Resilience Program. Her work focuses mainly on the Environment, Conflict and Peacebuilding topic, analyzing the connections between environmental change, natural resources and security. Most recently, her work has included co-leading the Green Conflict Minerals project, which explored the fragility implications of the low-carbon transition. She also provides research and policy support to the NAP Global Network, contributing to the key themes of gender, conflict and the private sector.
Clare brings her diverse background in political science and investigative journalism, with an emphasis on issues of human rights. Her past experience includes conducting archival research for investigative news outlets and documentaries, as well as providing reporting and writing for news organizations such as openDemocracy, New York Magazine and Women Across Frontiers.
She completed her Master of Arts at New York University, where she also served as a teaching assistant for courses in research methodology. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Waterloo in political science and history. She is currently based in Toronto, Canada.
All Publications
- Toolkit for Engaging the Private Sector in National Adaptation Plans (NAPs)
Report - July 9, 2020
This toolkit aims to help governments develop strategies for the effective engagement of private sector actors in the NAP process. - Sustainable by 2045: Three ways the mining industry can make it happen
Blog - March 3, 2020
On February 29, more than 150 leaders from the minerals industry—from governments, civil society and the private sector—came together to find solutions for sustainable development at the Sustainability Forum. - The NAP Process and Peacebuilding
Briefing Note - February 18, 2020
This briefing note explores the importance and difficulties of bringing adaptation planning and peacebuilding agendas together in contexts of fragility and instability. It will also highlight some of the countries that have already begun to integrate conflict considerations into their adaptation planning processes. - Toolkit for a Gender-Responsive Process to Formulate and Implement National Adaptation Plans (NAPs)
Report - December 9, 2019
This toolkit is designed to support country efforts to pursue a gender-responsive national adaptation plan (NAP) process. It offers a flexible approach, recognizing that there are opportunities to integrate gender considerations regardless of where you are in the NAP process. - When Life Gives You Lemons: How to bolster businesses’ capacity for making lemonade out of a changing climate
Blog - July 3, 2019
Lemonade is the perfect drink for a hot summer day. And while it can help us beat the summer heat, soaring temperatures in many parts of the world could threaten the future of the core ingredient needed for this beloved summer fixture. - How Institutional Arrangements Can Engage Small Businesses in Climate Adaptation
Blog - June 27, 2019
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises need a supportive environment of institutional, legal and policy frameworks to adapt to climate change. - Paying For It: How governments can help the private sector overcome financial barriers to investing in adaptation
Blog - June 18, 2019
Private sector engagement will be essential to the success of the NAP process, whether through direct financing or active participation in adaptation actions. Governments can play a key role in enabling this private sector engagement by promoting a number of enabling factors. - Why Information Sharing is Key to Engaging Businesses in the NAP Process
Blog - June 18, 2019
Private sector engagement in climate change adaptation will be necessary for countries, communities and individuals to meet the climate crisis. - What is the Business Case for Private Investment in the NAP Process?
Blog - May 29, 2019
Businesses around the world—big and small, from large-scale banks to smallholder farmers—invest in climate change adaptation every day.They may not... - Managing the Trade-Offs of Transformation Through Foreign Policy
Policy Brief - April 30, 2019
This climate diplomacy essay aims to inspire actors around the world to work together to initiate, manage and monitor the necessary changes needed for a sustainable world. - Engaging the Private Sector in National Adaptation Planning Processes
Report - April 16, 2019
This study aims to offer guidance to governments and their partners on how to engage the private sector in the NAP process. - Is Vanadium the “Valyrian Steel” of the Energy Transition?
Blog - April 16, 2019
In Game of Thrones, a sword forged out of Valyrian steel is recognized for its unparalleled strength and light weight. It is this advantage that denotes it as one of Westeros’s most sought-after materials. In the real world, its equivalent just might be vanadium. - Dead Batteries Deserve a Second Life
Blog - April 9, 2019
Batteries should be recycled, so the valuable minerals therein—including cobalt and lithium—can stay in the economy. - Sustainability and Second Life: The case for cobalt and lithium recycling
Report - April 2, 2019
Adopting recycling in the mining sector and in supply chains is essential to ensure the transition to a low-carbon economy is responsible and sustainable for the longer term. - How Integrated Vulnerability Assessments Support NAP Processes in the Pacific Region
Report - February 6, 2019
This briefing note highlights the significance of the integrated vulnerability assessment (IVA) framework to the NAP processes underway in three Pacific island states: Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands. - What Do Bears and Smartphones Have in Common?
Blog - November 15, 2018
The challenge that electronics hibernation poses to the circular economy. - Green Conflict Minerals: The fuels of conflict in the transition to a low-carbon economy
Report - August 14, 2018
This reports seeks to understand how the transition to a low-carbon economy—and the minerals and metals required to make that shift—could affect fragility, conflict and violence dynamics in mineral-rich states. - Electric Vehicles vs. Fuel-Efficient Used Cars: Which really drives sustainability?
Blog - April 18, 2018
Debates surrounding the merits of electric vehicles versus fuel-efficient used cars have typically focused on carbon emissions and energy use only—but what of the conflict implications? - Connecting the Dots: Natural resources, women and peace
Blog - March 6, 2018
To celebrate International Women’s Day, we spoke with Silja Halle of UN Environment to discuss the opportunities presented by environment and natural resources to strengthen women’s participation in peace processes. - Digging up the Dirt on Conflict Minerals Worldwide
Blog - November 30, 2017
A series of recent reports has revealed a new complexity to the familiar topic of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s “conflict minerals.” Clare Church explores how the trade now not only proliferates outsides of the mobile phone industry, but also outside of the country itself.