Climate Change as the Last Trigger in a Long-Lasting Conflict: The Production of Vulnerability in Northern Guinea-Bissau, West Africa
Publisher: Journal of Peasant Studies
Author(s): Marina P. Temudo and Ana I.R. Cabral
Date: 2021
Topics: Climate Change, Conflict Causes, Governance, Land, Livelihoods, Renewable Resources
Countries: Guinea-Bissau
Climate-related conflicts, although expected to also cause cross-border tensions/fights and intra-state civil strife among Southern countries, have been mostly framed as a problem for the rich Global North citizens produced by the poor, more environmentally vulnerable Global South potential migrants. However, violence under a climate change scenario might be more frequently expressed as small-scale and local level ‘invisible’ uprisings and armed conflicts, namely around land. This article focuses on a conflict over land involving a few villages of northern Guinea-Bissau, which is transforming the inhabitants of a maritime island into climate migrants/landless people. We conclude that climate change was not a direct driver but the last trigger of a long-lasting conflict with multiple and complex causes.