Environmental Peacebuilding and Civil-Military Engagement in the Sahel: Turning a Threat Multiplier into a Force Multiplier
Publisher: Small Wars Journal
Author(s): Philip Schrooten and Jolan Silkens
Date: 2021
Topics: Climate Change, Conflict Causes, Cooperation, Dispute Resolution/Mediation
The situation in the Sahel is often characterized by its volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous nature. Insecurity, an explosive demographic growth and a pressing age pyramid are challenging the economic reliance on farming and pastoralism. Driven by historical, geographical and political elements, rather than by the climate, issues such as desertification are intensifying factors potentially contributing to an escalation of the existing conflict and increasing the pressure on livelihood and food security. Climate change creates conditions outside the control of the local population that cause vulnerabilities that are heavily exploited by various actors in the conflict, including violent extremist organizations. Among proponents of the causality between climate and conflict, environmental peacebuilding has become a new buzz term in discussions concerning the future of military operations in the Sahel. In this brief, the authors identify both opportunities and tools for a human domain centric approach, claiming that by operating at the crossroads of diplomacy, development cooperation and military operations, environmental peacebuilding as a methodology by default requires human factors analysis, influencing capabilities and civil-military cooperation.