Nexus Brief: Climate Change & Environment: Fragility and Conflict
Publisher: SDC Climate Change and Environment Network
Author(s): Anik Kohli, Myriam Steinemann, Nickolai Denisov, and Simone Droz
Date: 2018
Topics: Climate Change, Conflict Causes, Conflict Prevention, Cooperation, Governance, Renewable Resources
Violent conflicts are increasing in number and intensity. Most are occurring in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, and are the result of complex interactions among multiple factors, including some related to the environment.
Environmental degradation, exacerbated by climate change, does not automatically lead to conflict, but can affect such drivers of conflict as low rural incomes or food insecurity. Where society, institutions and governments are unable to manage the challenges related to these drivers, the risk of conflict increases. States of fragility often find themselves in this situation, but further research is necessary to better understand the relationships among the environment, climate change, fragility and conflict.
Numerous international actors, including the UN General Assembly, the UN Security Council, NATO, OSCE, the European Union, the African Union and the G7, have recognised the nexus of environment, climate change, fragility and conflict. A dedicated international process on this nexus could improve the common understanding of the dynamics at work in the same way that the Nansen Initiative responded to the challenges of displacement in the context of disasters and climate change.