Cedric de Coning

Cedric de Coning is a Research Professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), where his research focuses on strengthening the resilience and sustainability of social-ecological systems under pressure from climate change and other global stressors. His work examines the intersection of climate change, governance, and conflict, applying an adaptive peacebuilding perspective to international, regional, and local conflict-resolution initiatives and to the evolving climate–peace nexus.

Cedric is a former South African diplomat and United Nations peacekeeper, and has served in a range of advisory roles for the African Union and the United Nations, including on the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board for the UN Peacebuilding Fund. His research and policy work explores how institutions and peacebuilding efforts can adapt to complex and rapidly changing conflict environments shaped by climate pressures and other systemic risks.

At NUPI, Cedric co-leads the project Managing Climate, Peace and Security Risks from the Borderlands of the Lake Chad Basin, which examines how climate change interacts with governance, livelihoods, and security dynamics across the Lake Chad region.

He holds a PhD in complexity theory and peacebuilding from the Department of Philosophy at the University of Stellenbosch. Cedric has authored or edited eleven books, including Resilience, Peacebuilding and Preventing Violent Extremism (2025), Adaptive Peacebuilding (2023), and Adaptive Mediation (2022), which explore how peacebuilding practice can evolve in response to complex and interconnected global risks.