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NUPI skole

Researcher

Thor Olav Iversen

Senior Researcher
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Contactinfo and files

thor.olav.iversen@nupi.no
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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

  • Development policy
  • Peace operations
  • Humanitarian issues
  • Conflict
  • Fragile states
  • International organizations
  • United Nations
  • Historical IR

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

Articles
News
Articles
News

New Norwegian network launched at the first Oslo Climate, Peace and Security Forum

NUPI on 21 January hosted the first version of the annual Oslo Climate, Peace and Security Forum, gathering Norwegian, Nordic and Baltic researchers, diplomats and policymakers. A new Norwegian Climate Peace and Security Research Policy and Practice Network was also launched at the event.
  • Humanitarian issues
  • Conflict
  • Fragile states
  • Climate
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Articles
News
Articles
News

Learning from climate-related stabilisation strategies in Africa

How can local efforts in the West African Sahel Belt teach us how to manage the effects of climate change on peace and security?
  • Security policy
  • Regional integration
  • Development policy
  • Africa
  • Peace operations
  • Humanitarian issues
  • Nation-building
  • Climate
  • Governance
  • United Nations
  • AU
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Research project
2025 - 2026 (Ongoing)

Managing Climate, Peace and Security Risks from the Borderlands of the West African Sahel Belt (CPS-WASahel)

How can local efforts in the West African Sahel Belt teach us how to manage the effects of climate change on peace and security?...

  • Security policy
  • Regional integration
  • Development policy
  • Africa
  • Peace operations
  • Humanitarian issues
  • Conflict
  • Fragile states
  • Nation-building
  • Insurgencies
  • Climate
  • Human rights
  • AU
  • Security policy
  • Regional integration
  • Development policy
  • Africa
  • Peace operations
  • Humanitarian issues
  • Conflict
  • Fragile states
  • Nation-building
  • Insurgencies
  • Climate
  • Human rights
  • AU
Articles
Articles

Internasjonal politikk

Internasjonal politikk is the leading Scandinavian journal of international studies. The journal situates itself between a traditional academic style and more popularized content.
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Publications
Publications
Scientific article

Trailblazers 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.

  • Africa
  • Peace, crisis and conflict
  • Climate
  • United Nations
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  • Africa
  • Peace, crisis and conflict
  • Climate
  • United Nations
Articles
New research
Articles
New research

NUPI to provide research support to Denmark in the UN Security Council

Researchers at NUPI will contribute with their expertise to Denmark’s diplomacy on climate change during the country’s coming tenure in the UN Security Council.
  • Europe
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • South and Central America
  • Peace operations
  • Humanitarian issues
  • Conflict
  • Fragile states
  • Migration
  • Climate
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Articles
Analysis
Articles
Analysis

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 potential threat in areas that are not characterized by violent conflict?
  • Security policy
  • North America
  • Humanitarian issues
  • Conflict
  • Climate
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Climate, peace and security in the US and beyond
Podcast

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...

  • Security policy
  • North America
  • Humanitarian issues
  • Conflict
  • Climate
  • Security policy
  • North America
  • Humanitarian issues
  • Conflict
  • Climate
Publications

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.

  • Peace operations
  • United Nations
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  • Peace operations
  • United Nations
Articles
Articles

Climate, Peace and Security in the Central African Republic

In a new fact sheet from the joint NUPI and SIPRI Climate-related Peace and Security Risks Project (CPSR), the team explore the nexus between climate change, peace and security in the Central African Republic.
  • Africa
  • Peace operations
  • Conflict
  • Migration
  • Climate
  • United Nations
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