MONROVIA, Aug. 27, 2026 — Dr. Emmanuel King Urey Yarkpawolo, Executive Director of Liberia’s Environmental Protection Agency, has announced that Liberia will host a high-level side event during the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly meetings in New York next month.

Dr. Yarkpawolo made the announcement at the Ministry of Information’s regular press briefing on Thursday .

The event, titled “The Nexus Between Climate, Conflict, and Natural Resources: Pathways to Peace, Resilience, and Sustainable Development,” is scheduled for Sept. 23, 2026, from noon to 2 p.m. The venue will be announced later.

The initiative is being organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with Liberia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations and with technical support from the United Nations Development Programme.

It is expected to bring together senior government officials, UN representatives, development partners, experts, civil society organizations, private-sector actors and affected communities.

Dr. Yarkpawolo said climate change does not automatically cause conflict but can act as a “threat multiplier” by worsening poverty, displacement, food and water insecurity, competition over land and natural resources, weak governance and existing social tensions.

He said the issue is particularly important for Liberia, which depends heavily on its forests, minerals, wetlands, coastal ecosystems, water resources and biodiversity. These resources face growing pressures from coastal erosion, flooding, deforestation, wetland encroachment, unsustainable mining, pollution and other environmental challenges.

Dr. Yarkpawolo warned that unequal distribution of resource benefits, weak enforcement of environmental laws and climate-related livelihood losses could deepen inequality and fuel disputes.

“Peace cannot be separated from the environment,” he said, emphasizing that sustainable peace requires the fair, transparent and responsible management of natural resources.

The planned event will highlight Liberia’s Nationally Determined Contribution, adaptation priorities, natural-resource governance reforms and emerging carbon-market framework. Discussions will also focus on connecting climate action with conflict prevention, peacebuilding, community resilience, job creation and inclusive development.

Organizers expect the meeting to produce policy recommendations for integrating climate security, conflict prevention and natural-resource governance into national, regional and international decision-making.

The event will also seek to strengthen partnerships and identify opportunities for climate finance, technical assistance and investment in vulnerable communities, particularly those affected by coastal erosion, land degradation, deforestation, mining and livelihood insecurity.

Dr. Yarkpawolo said the meeting would promote stronger institutions, transparent governance, equitable benefit-sharing and the participation of women, young people, Indigenous peoples and local communities in decisions concerning natural resources.

The initiative reflects President Joseph Nyuma Boakai Sr.’s vision of promoting peace, responsible environmental governance and inclusive national development, according to the statement.

In closing , Dr. Yarkpawolo urged Liberian media organizations to help inform the public about the connections among climate change, peace and natural-resource governance.