Attachments
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Countries in conflict are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of the climate and environmental crises because the adaptive capacity of people, systems and institutions already coping with the consequences of conflict are limited. Despite a growing recognition of the importance of ensuring that all communities are adequately supported to cope with and adapt to erratic weather and increasingly frequent and severe shocks, people enduring conflict remain neglected by climate action and finance. This is largely because of the inherent challenges and risks attached to implementing longer-term responses in such settings. Although these risks are real, the status quo is untenable. As conflicts and instability are often long-lasting, waiting for peace before addressing climate risks is not a viable option, and understanding pathways to climate change adaptation in conflict settings is critical.
Based on case studies conducted in the Gaza Strip, northern Mozambique and eastern Niger between October 2022 and July 2023, and drawing on both the ICRC’s experience and the scientific literature, this policy report argues that it is possible to strengthen the resilience of communities to growing climate risks and environmental degradation in unstable settings, and that this will require a concerted effort by climate, development and humanitarian bodies.
ADAPTING TO A CHANGING CLIMATE IN CONFLICT SETTINGS
Even in stable environments, pathways to effective and long-term climate adaptation are often unclear, and adaptation initiatives may yield unintended maladaptive outcomes, especially for already marginalized people.(1) While challenges in identifying effective adaptation pathways and acting accordingly are particularly acute in conflict-affected settings, some observations can inform the design and implementation of initiatives to strengthen resilience and adaptation in these situations: responses need to be informed by an in-depth understanding of the context and the historical and socio-political realities that led to the marginalization of certain groups; they also need to be conflict-sensitive. Otherwise, responses run the risk of being ill-suited to the fluid reality of conflict settings, fuelling tensions, exacerbating the vulnerability of certain segments of communities and maintaining the current state of affairs, without enabling adequate adaptation for all members of a society.(2)
THE ROLE OF HUMANITARIAN ACTION
Through their proximity to communities, understanding of how people manage in the hardest situations, and ability to test and identify promising practices, humanitarian organizations can help respond to climate risks in conflict settings. Their learning can inform a broader response that builds the foundations for greater climate resilience.
In Gaza, Mozambique and Niger, the ICRC contributes to strengthening people’s resilience to all types of shocks in specific locations and on a small scale, in partnership with communities, National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, civil-society organizations, authorities and service providers. ICRC activities are, in part, supported by development funding, in recognition of their role in limiting development reversals and of the ability of humanitarian organizations to deliver a sustainable humanitarian impact in environments where traditional development approaches are ill-adapted.
Humanitarian activities often help people survive in the short term through incremental adaptations of their livelihoods and by improving the sustainability and reliability of their access to essential services, including in places where the presence of government institutions is limited. This is important, but it is not sufficient to adequately help communities adapt to current and future climate impacts.
BEYOND HUMANITARIAN ACTION
In all three locations – the Gaza Strip, northern Mozambique and eastern Niger – major gaps exist. At the scale of the current response, not all communities can be supported even though the needs are clear, and humanitarian efforts by themselves do not provide the necessary depth or breadth and are too short in time.
In Gaza, for instance, reinforcing key infrastructure can make people safer during conflict escalation and severe weather, but the deterioration of, and technical weaknesses in, water and power systems prevent comprehensive adaptation over the long term.
To address these gaps and provide a more comprehensive and long-term climate-resilient response, the authorities must be involved and supported by development organizations and climate experts. Development organizations have recognized the need to invest in conflict and fragile settings, but, despite some progress, their efforts continue to collide with their ways of operating, financing mechanisms, and restrictions on where they can work. By strengthening the development response in fragile and conflict-affected environments, climate and conflict expertise are essential to ensure that development efforts take sufficient account of current and future climate risks, are conflict-sensitive and address the vulnerability of marginalized communities in setting a course for the future.
OUR CALL
Our call echoes the one we made three years ago, as we still need to urgently scale up efforts to reduce the impacts of the climate and environmental crises on communities that are already coping with the consequences of armed conflict.(3)
To do so, we need to:
LEARN by documenting and analysing actions aimed at strengthening the resilience of people and systems to climate risks in the most unstable environments that are climate- and conflict-sensitive, and adequately address vulnerabilities.
COLLABORATE to connect the dots at the local level and build on the respective capacity, expertise and strengths of humanitarian, development and climate organizations in order to work at different scales (from households to communities and systems) and timescales (short-, medium- and long-term) while preserving the space for principled humanitarian action.
PREVENT harm by strengthening systemic and residual measures to manage current and future risks, strengthen the resilience of essential services, livelihoods and shelters, and ensure respect for the environment during conflict, so every shock does not become a disaster.
ACT.
(1) IPCC 2022a: 20-27.
(2) Cao et al. 2021; Eriksen et al. 2021; Ribot 2013.
(3) ICRC 2020.