Climate Resilience and Conflict: Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships as a Way Forward?

Nov 23, 2021 | Christopher Graham
View Original

For groups that were already in disputes over land rights, territorial claims, and resource access or distribution, climate change increases the stakes – escalating or rehashing conflicts. More international conflicts could also emerge from the climate crisis. One of the earlier focal points for understanding the climate-conflict nexus was the conflict in Syria. A report published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) also noted rising tensions between India and Bangladesh.

As a holistic approach to climate adaptation, climate resilience offers a valuable conceptual and analytical framework for responding to the structural vulnerabilities that place people, landscapes and countries at high or disproportional risks to climate change.

In developing countries and in conflict zones found around the world, public finance for human and technical resources to implement, and scale-up climate resilience projects are often limited or unavailable due to corrupt forces. Multi-stakeholder partnerships are therefore crucial in how climate resilience is approached, implemented, or deployed.