Researcher
Thor Olav Iversen
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Summary
Thor Olav Iversen is a development economist with rich experience in working with international affairs as both a practitioner and an academic. At NUPI, Iversen do research on the impact of climate change on conflict and security through the Climate-related Peace and Security Risks-project.
He also has a strong research interest pertaining to sciences and technology adjacent to the development and humanitarian field. In June 2023, Iversen defended my PhD dissertation in the field of theory of science with the title “Making world hunger legible: The politics of measuring global food insecurity”.
From 2015 to 2017, furthermore he worked as a regional programme officer at the UN World Food Programme. A pronounced feature of his academic life is furthermore love for dissemination and public debate, as he has significant experience as a journalist, editor and moderator of public conversations.
Expertise
Education
2023 PhD, Theory of Science, University of Bergen
2013 Master's degree, Economics, University of Bergen.
2010 Bachelor's degree, History, University of Bergen
2009 Bachelor's degree, Economics, University of Bergen
Work Experience
2023- Senior Research fellow, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI)
2023 Journalist and editor, Agenda Magasin
2018-2023 PhD candidate, Centre for the Study of the Sciences and Humanities, University of Bergen
2015-2017 Regional programme officer, UN World Food Programme
2013-2015 Research assistant, Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) 2012 Trainee, Royal Norwegian Embassy in Seoul
Aktivitet
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Clear all filtersTrailblazers in a Warming World? The Agency of African Actors in Climate, Peace, and Security
A growing body of evidence indicates how climate change can, combined with other factors, increase the risk of violent conflict. Such claims have particularly been made in African contexts. This article studies the agency exerted by African actors in shaping international agendas on climate, peace, and security in the cases of (1) the UN Security Council, (2) The African Union and (3) COP27. The analysis shows how this engagement has included diplomacy, discursive innovation, epistemic engagement, and policy coordination. We argue that the continent’s growing geopolitical centrality is enabling African actors to exert a nonaligned foreign policy on their own terms.
NUPI to provide research support to Denmark in the UN Security Council
Climate, peace and security in the US and beyond
Climate, peace and security in the US and beyond
How can policy and discourses in climate, peace and security be compared across widely different contexts? How is climate change tackled as a pote...
Improving the impact of the UN Peacebuilding Commission and enhancing the synergy of the Peacebuilding Architecture - Input Paper for the 2025 (...
The United Nations Peacebuilding Architecture – consisting of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) and the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) - was established in 2005. In 2025, 20 years after the PBA was established, the Architecture will undergo a review. This Input Paper, by researchers from the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), serves as an input to this review. It is informed by NUPI’s research on peacebuilding and related areas, including the research undertaken in support of the previous 5-, 10- and 15-year reviews of the Peacebuilding Architecture. The main challenge that has consistently been identified over the years, including in previous reviews of the Peacebuilding Architecture, is the perceived lack of impact and relevance of the Peacebuilding Commission. In our assessment, the Peacebuilding Commission’s attention to countries and regions are too ad hoc and fleeting to generate meaningful information and analysis. This is one of the main areas that we single out for improvement. This input paper therefore focuses on providing a set of practical recommendations for how the impact of the Peacebuilding Commission can be improved, and how the synergies of the Peacebuilding Architecture can be enhanced.
Climate, Peace and Security in the Central African Republic
Climate, Peace and Security Fact Sheet: Central African Republic
Climate, Peace and Security Fact Sheet: Central African Republic
The Central African Republic (CAR) is highly exposed to the impacts of climate change due to socioecological vulnerabilities and ongoing insecurity. Drivers of vulnerability include the absence of state authority, natural resource mismanagement, and low household and community resilience. Although the security situation has improved in recent years, it remains volatile; factions of the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC), self-defence groups and bandits regularly clash with government forces, allies and mercenaries such as the Wagner Group (now Africa Corps) in rural areas. A changing climate and the deteriorating security situation in the Sahel and the Great Lakes region have driven transhumant pastoralists further into CAR earlier in the transhumance season, creating tensions. Additionally, the spillover effects of the war in Sudan have put added pressure on the humanitarian situation in CAR, particularly in the Vakaga and Haute-Kotto prefectures.
Climate, Peace and Security Fact Sheet: Colombia
Climate, Peace and Security in Colombia