Emma Hakala

Dr Emma Hakala is a senior research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs and Postdoctoral Researcher in the project “Toxic Crimes: Legal Activism against Wartime Environmental Destruction” at the University of Helsinki. She is also a member of the multidisciplinary BIOS Research Unit, which studies the effects of environmental and resource factors on society. Hakala gained her D.Soc.Sci degree in political history at the University of Helsinki in 2019. Her doctoral dissertation focused on the securitisation of the environment and the role of international organisations in post-conflict Western Balkans. Hakala has previously obtained a Master’s degree in political history at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki.

Hakala’s research focuses on environmental security and the geopolitics of climate change. Recently, she has been looking at the integration of climate change into civil preparedness and emerging risks in the Nordic countries. In the “Toxic Crimes” project, she examines the role of post-conflict environmental assessment. In addition, Hakala leads a part on conflict analysis in the project “Water Cooperation and Peace – Finnish Water Way”, which FIIA implements as a partner of the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE).

Expertise

Climate security, environmental security, Western Balkan, post-conflict cooperation

Degrees

Doctor of Social Sciences (Political history), University of Helsinki, 2018
M. Soc. Sci., B. Sc.

Language skills

Finnish, English, Swedish (working languages), French, German, Serbian (receptive skills)

Projects

The Politics of Climate Change
Finland and Climate Security in an Interdependent World
Nordic Security of Supply in the Age of Disruption

Latest FIIA Publications