Integrating Conflict Sensitivity and Peacebuilding into Climate Adaptation Project Design

Ariane Blouin, University of Ottawa (Canada)

The “climate security nexus”, or the inquiry of the relationship between climate conditions, peace, and security (Pacillo et al., 2024) is a major geopolitical concern of this time. As climate change impacts increasingly interact with existing political, social, and economic fragilities, they risk potentially exacerbating instability and conflict in already fragile and conflict-affected countries, pushing them farther into disaster (Prasad & Singhania, 2026). Many of the countries most vulnerable to climate change impacts are also among the most fragile and conflict-affected states (Bergman, 2025), making them priority recipients of international assistance. Canada has been funding many climate adaptation projects in vulnerable countries through its 2021-2026 climate finance funding mechanism, yet it has not been clearly established whether conflict sensitivity and peacebuilding considerations have been integrated in the design of these projects. Taken together, these considerations raise the following research question: How and to what extent are conflict sensitivity and peacebuilding considerations integrated into the design of Canadian-funded climate adaptation projects in fragile and conflict-affected settings?