This edition of the Humanitarian Exchange, co-edited by Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG) Research Fellow and interim HPN Coordinator Kerrie Holloway and Senior Research Fellow Caitlin Sturridge, focuses on the relationship between climate change, conflict and displacement in crisis settings. While the relative weight of climate change, conflict and displacement may vary, some combination of all three coexist in many, if not most, contemporary crises. Some causal links exist between each of these, but they are not inevitable and are obscured by wider pressures and inequalities. The individual challenges of each are amplified when they occur at the same time and in the same place. Contemporary crises are becoming increasingly complex and entrenched, with seemingly no solutions in sight for people affected by climate change, conflict and displacement.
Against this backdrop, the contributors to this edition critically reflect on some of the major issues and topics emerging from their work on climate change, conflict and displacement. Their contributions could not be more timely. The combined challenges of these three phenomena must be addressed collectively, yet deep-seated disconnects persist between the sectors, disciplines and geographies involved – between humanitarian, development and peacebuilding; between migration and displacement studies; between the social and natural sciences; between policy, practice and academia; and between the so-called Global North and Global South.