According to a 2017 report by The Brookings Institution, 20 out of 30 African countries are warming faster than the world as a whole—a trend expected to continue in the coming decades.” While it is debated whether climate change and conflict have either a direct causal relationship or an indirect relationship, there is quite a consensus that climate change consequences can amplify tensions in already fragile areas.
Building on the UN Security Council Presidential Statement on West Africa and the Sahel where the link between climate change and violence in those regions was acknowledged, the African Union (AU) dedicated the 774th meeting of its Peace and Security Council (PSC) on 21 May, 2018, to an open session on “The link Between Climate Change and Conflicts in Africa and Addressing the Security Implications”.
The Council highlighted the linkage between climate change and peace and security in Africa and that climate change is a threat to global peace and security. In this context, and noting that no country or region is immune to climate change, the Council members stated the importance of coordinated efforts in mitigating the adverse effects of climate change and provided a set of recommendations to member states and AU partners as to
- develop a continental framework for proactively responding to the potential and real security threats posed by climate change to the continent
- actively pursue integrated approaches to boost climate change resilience
- pay particular attention to prevention and further strengthening the humanitarian-development nexus
- improve communication on climate change phenomena with a view to effectively ensuring disaster preparedness and risk reduction from local level to the continental level
- share experiences, lessons and best practices in addressing the adverse effects of climate change
- build effective synergies between local and national authorities in efforts aimed at mitigating the adverse effects of climate change
- partner with the private sector particularly in building national climate change resilience, including in climate-smart infrastructure development
- end illegal trade in flora and fauna, which is contributing significantly to desertification and constitute a source of funding for criminal and terrorist groups
- accelerate the implementation of all existing international and regional commitments relating to mitigation of adverse effects of climate change, which include the Paris Agreement, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that deplete the Ozone Layer and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030)
To raise awareness, the Council underscored the importance to mainstream climate change in all its activities particularly in early warning and prevention of climate change related violent conflicts. In this regard, the Continental Early Warning System[1] is requested to include an early warning on potential adverse effects of climate change-related conflicts on the continent in its regular briefings to Council,
For the international level the Council reaffirmed the importance of climate security and the need to reduce climate change impact on fragile regions:
- implementing a preventive foreign policy to counter security risks by pushing for climate change on the agenda of the UN Security Council
- ensuring that the financial and economic commitment by developed states in the climate change framework is efficiently deployed in time.
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[1] The Continental Early Warning System (CEWS) is one of the five pillars of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA). It provides provide timely information on evolving violent conflicts based on specifically developed indicators which allow to anticipate and prevent conflicts on the African continent.