Climate Change and Conflict: Lessons from community conservancies in northern Kenya
Conservation Development Centre (CDC), International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), Saferworld
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Abstract: This study focuses on the linkages between climate change and resource-based conflict in northern Kenya. The aim is to deepen understanding of the complex relationship between these factors in order to develop more informed and nuanced policy responses. At the heart of the climate change/conflict relationship is the issue of natural resource scarcity and competition. This is not a simple one-way connection: climate change is one of a range of factors causing natural resource scarcity; while natural resource scarcity is one of a range of factors causing conflict. Climate change is often referred to as a ‘threat multiplier’ – a factor that will compound other drivers of conflict. The question is: how significant is, or will be, the threat-multiplying effect of climate change, and what measures can be taken to pre-empt or mitigate the threat?