Climate and Conflict: Why Do We Need to Better Understand How Combined Climate Risk and Conflict Situations Exacerbate People’s Vulnerability?
Publisher: International Committee of the Red Cross and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Date: 2021
Topics: Climate Change, Conflict Causes, Disasters, Livelihoods
Climate disruption affects – and will increasingly affect – populations across the globe. Increasing climate risks (trends and shocks) threaten lives, exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and inequalities, and accentuate societal fragility. Environmental degradation further worsens these impacts. Climate risks are even more acute in situations of armed conflict and violence as several conflict-affected countries are located in regions that are severely impacted, but also because people, systems and institutions tend to be less resilient to shocks in such settings. This is especially true in situations of protracted conflicts – which have become the norm. Long-lasting conflicts progressively weaken the resilience of all societal components, calling for urgent action to further understand and reduce the impacts of climate risks in conflict areas.
A large majority of countries considered most vulnerable to the impact of climate change by the ND-Gain Index are in Africa and include several conflict-affected countries, such as Somalia, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger, Chad or Mali. Within those countries, vulnerable people are and will continue to be disproportionately affected by food insecurity, higher food prices, income losses, loss of livelihood opportunities, health impacts and displacement. People will keep trying to cope and adapt to a degraded environment, growing risks of floods, droughts, extreme heat and poverty through searching for new livelihood strategies, changing their lifestyle or moving away from their homes.