A changing climate and the deteriorating security situation in the Sahel and the Great Lakes region have driven transhumant pastoralists further into CAR earlier in the transhumance season, creating tensions.
On 8 October 2024, the German Federal Foreign Office, adelphi and Climate Diplomacy organized the sixth edition of the Berlin Climate and Security Conference under the slogan 'How to Secure a Climate for Peace'. The conference focused on exploring the link between climate change, peace and security objectives, and explored innovative ways to assess climate risks and develop early warning systems.
Can Climate and Development Goals Align in Fragile States?
Peacekeeping Missions and Renewable Energy Sources
Colombia’s decades-long conflict culminated in the 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which included aims to achieve peace through rural reform, reintegration of former combatants, addressing illicit crop cultivation, and ensuring land restitution and voluntary return for displaced individuals.
Forging ties that will hold in the future
If there has ever been a country where “build back better” applies to the energy system, it is Ukraine. From a heavily centralised, fossil-dependent energy system, Russian attacks now compel Ukraine to continuously undertake short-term decentralised repairs to its energy infrastructure. In order to join the EU and cut its fossil ties with Russia, Ukraine has started to implement a completely revised, much greener and decentralised energy system as part of its reconstruction efforts.
Opportunities and limitations
Areas beyond government control constitute a highly diverse subgroup of fragile and conflict-affected settings. As a result of conflict and weak governance, many of these areas have become more vulnerable to climate change. Their communities have been left with limited capacity to respond to changing climatic conditions and extreme weather events. These settings pose unique challenges for external engagement and have, therefore, long been overlooked in adaptation efforts.
Last month, Europe was both under water and on fire. Excessive rainfall brought on by storm Boris resulted in destructive floods in central Europe, whereas long-lasting droughts caused enormous wildfires in Portugal.
The consequences of climate change are disproportionately impacting fragile and conflict-affected settings (FCS).
Europe and India are rapidly embarking on a clean energy transition with the share of renewables skyrocketing in their respective energy mixes. This heightens concerns about dependence on critical raw materials (CRMs), such as cobalt, nickel and graphite, that are needed for renewable energy technologies, and whose supply chains are largely dominated by singular exporters such as China. It is not the case that Europe and India lack reserves of, for instance, lithium, but there are barriers to extracting them, and even if new mining activities are undertaken, it will take time.
