Rather than acting as direct drivers of conflict, climate change and variability are seen as intermediary sources of risk, or ‘threat multipliers’. This is because they interact with existing socioeconomic and environmental conditions to increase livelihood insecurity and the probability of conflict in certain situations. In this light, this report explores the complex and tangled links between climate variability and change and the proliferation of armed networks operating in northern Niger.
The Lake Chad region is caught in a conflict trap. It is experiencing one of the world’s worst humanitarian emergencies with an estimated 10.7 million people in need of assistance. adelphi’s study Shoring up Stability demonstrates, for the first time, how climate change is interacting with the conflict and compounds the crisis in the Lake Chad region. The launch event will present the findings from this climate and fragility assessment on Lake Chad.
The Lake Chad region is caught in a conflict trap. It is experiencing one of the world’s worst humanitarian emergencies with an estimated 10.7 million people in need of assistance. adelphi’s study Shoring up Stability demonstrates, for the first time, how climate change is interacting with the conflict and compounds the crisis in the Lake Chad region. The launch event will present the findings from this climate and fragility assessment on Lake Chad.
The guidelines for conflict-sensitive adaptation to climate change were developed by adelphi on behalf of the German environment Agency (UBA) and outline how to design and implement an adaptation project in a fragile or conflict-affected context. Addressed at planners and project managers, the guide provides tools and methods to ensure that an adaptation project does not exacerbate tensions and, ideally, contributes to peace and stability.
As the links between the climate crisis and risks to global peace and prosperity become ever more evident, foreign policy actors are increasingly under pressure to step up their efforts to address climate-related risks. To increase the momentum for addressing climate-related drivers of conflict, the German Federal Foreign Office in partnership with adelphi and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) hosted the Berlin Climate and Security Conference (BCSC) at the German Federal Foreign Office on 4 June 2019.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) will host the fourth Stockholm Security Conference (SSC 19) on 3 October 2019, under the theme ‘Conflict and technology: Now and in the future.’ Through plenary and breakout sessions, the conference will look at how the nature of conflict is changing today and how technology impacts conflict.
Africa is vulnerable to natural variations in climate and human-induced climate change. Adapting to these impacts is key to achieving Africa’s development targets, and requires a coordinated and synergistic approach from a diverse range of actors across sectors, as well as better understanding of the drivers of risk and vulnerability. The African Climate Risks Conference (ACRC) is an open platform for sharing the latest African climate research among researchers, policy makers, practitioners and development partners.
Climate change and its disruptive impact on water resources are increasingly recognised as threat multipliers that exacerbate conflict in areas around the world. The workshop will gather practitioners from the MENA region to discuss the role that civil society can play in fostering environmental cooperation and increasing the resilience of their communities vis-à-vis climate change and conflict.
The Humanitarian Energy Conference (HEC) is a new global event that convenes the broad community of actors and initiatives worldwide working to improve and expand energy access for displaced and crisis-affected people.
80 per cent of the world’s poorest could be living in fragile contexts by 2030, making fragility one of the capital challenges to achieving sustainable development. Fragility is multidimensional and complex, and progress in fragile contexts is not easy. But instead of shying away from this task, the ambition of the international community must be stepped up. Foreign policy can help increase the efficacy of investments to tackle fragility.
This side event will draw on lessons from the field and expert inputs to discuss the purpose and value of assessing linked climate and fragility issues in order to promote peaceful and sustainable development. Due to limited spaces available, please register by Friday 5 July.
The side event will address the relevance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to foreign policy and international seucirty with the goal of better understanding how to leverage the SDGs to achieve core foreign policy objectives. Access the agenda here.
There is increasing evidence that climate change is undermining livelihoods, food and water security in rural and urban areas around the world, thereby acting as a “threat multiplier” in fragile and conflict-prone situations. In light of this, the Berlin Climate and Security Conference, which took place at the German Federal Foreign Office on 4 June 2019, aimed at increasing the momentum for decisive action to address climate-related drivers of conflict.
For researchers looking into global security dynamics, it is becoming increasingly difficult to overlook climate change as a threat multiplier in conflict situations. While climate change may not directly cause conflict, it may be inextricably woven into pre-existing conflicts of power, ethnicity, and economic interest. Understading the role of climate-related impacts on security is therefore crucial for global peace.
The foreign policy community faces a choice. It can continue to allow unacceptable levels of violence and conflict to undermine individual countries and the global order. Or it can build a new consensus that violence is a preventable epidemic. This would take seriously a growing body of evidence showing what is most likely to work to steer the world back toward global peace, resilient societies, and more sustainable prosperity.