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Linking climate change adaptation, peacebuilding and conflict prevention - Policy Brief

Linking climate change adaptation, peacebuilding and conflict prevention

This policy brief explores the way in which linking climate change adaptation and peacebuilding measures presents opportunities and challenges for conflict prevention. It argues that integrating these two sectors could play a major role in preventing the triggering and escalation of climate-related conflicts and in promoting peace.

However, integrating climate change adaptation and peacebuilding remains a challenge for practitioners. This policy brief outlines the key issues that must be resolved in order to make progress towards a more holistic approach and greater resilience.

Climate change resilience can be strengthened through:

  • Absorptive capacity or mechanisms for coping with shocks (e.g. early harvest to reduce food insecurity);
  • Adaptive capacity, or the ability of a system to adjust, modify or change itself to mitigate future changes (e.g. introducing drought-resistant seeds), and:
  • Transformative capacity, or the ability to create a fundamentally new system that is not susceptible to climate change impacts (e.g. conflict-resolution mechanisms).

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