Climate change adaptation in conflict-affected countries: A systematic assessment of evidence

A Sitati¹, E Joe², B Pentz³, C Grayson⁴, C Jaime^{5

6}, E Gilmore⁷, E Galappaththi⁸, A Hudson^{9

10}, G Nagle Alverio¹¹, K J Mach^{12

13}, M van Aalst^{5

6

14}, N Simpson¹⁵, P Nayna Schwerdtle^{16

17}, S Templeman¹⁸, Z Zommers¹⁹, I Ajibade²⁰, L S Safaee Chalkasra^{21

22}, P Umunay^{23

24}, I Togola²⁵, A Khouzam⁴, G Scarpa²⁶; Global Adaptation Mapping Initiative Team; E Coughlan de Perez^{5

27}

Affiliations

¹ United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), Geneva, Switzerland.
² World Resources Institute, Washington, USA.
³ Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Scarborough, Canada.
⁴ International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva, Switzerland.
⁵ Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation, University of Twente, 7514 AE Enschede, The Netherlands.
⁶ Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, The Hague, The Netherlands.
⁷ Department of International Development, Community and Environment, Clark University, Worcester, MA 01610 USA.
⁸ Department of Geography, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA USA.
⁹ Yale Law School, Yale University, 127 Wall St, New Haven, CT 06511 USA.
¹⁰ Oxford University Centre for the Environment, S Parks Rd, Oxford, OX1 3QY UK.
¹¹ Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, Duke University School of Law, 9 Circuit Dr, Durham, NC 27701 USA.
¹² Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL USA.
¹³ Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL USA.
¹⁴ International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Columbia University, New York, USA.
¹⁵ African Climate and Development Initiative, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
¹⁶ Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Heidelberg Institute of Global Health (HIGH), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
¹⁷ Monash Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. Monash University, Clayton, Australia.
¹⁸ Columbia University, New York, USA.
¹⁹ United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), New York, USA.
²⁰ Department of Geography, Portland State University, 1721 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97201 USA.
²¹ Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of Ottawa, Simard Hall, Rm 047, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5 Canada.
²² International Development Research Centre, 150 Kent St., Ottawa, ON K1P 0B2 Canada.
²³ Nature for Climate Branch, Ecosystems Division, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya.
²⁴ Yale School of Environment, 360 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511 USA.
²⁵ Mali-Folke Centre, Bamako, Mali.
²⁶ University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
²⁷ Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Medford, USA.

PMID: 35425913
PMCID: PMC8475313
DOI: 10.1007/s43621-021-00052-9

Review

Climate change adaptation in conflict-affected countries: A systematic assessment of evidence

A Sitati et al. Discov Sustain. 2021.

. 2021;2(1):42.

doi: 10.1007/s43621-021-00052-9. Epub 2021 Sep 27.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), Geneva, Switzerland.
² World Resources Institute, Washington, USA.
³ Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Scarborough, Canada.
⁴ International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva, Switzerland.
⁵ Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation, University of Twente, 7514 AE Enschede, The Netherlands.
⁶ Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, The Hague, The Netherlands.
⁷ Department of International Development, Community and Environment, Clark University, Worcester, MA 01610 USA.
⁸ Department of Geography, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA USA.
⁹ Yale Law School, Yale University, 127 Wall St, New Haven, CT 06511 USA.
¹⁰ Oxford University Centre for the Environment, S Parks Rd, Oxford, OX1 3QY UK.
¹¹ Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, Duke University School of Law, 9 Circuit Dr, Durham, NC 27701 USA.
¹² Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL USA.
¹³ Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL USA.
¹⁴ International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Columbia University, New York, USA.
¹⁵ African Climate and Development Initiative, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
¹⁶ Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Heidelberg Institute of Global Health (HIGH), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
¹⁷ Monash Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. Monash University, Clayton, Australia.
¹⁸ Columbia University, New York, USA.
¹⁹ United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), New York, USA.
²⁰ Department of Geography, Portland State University, 1721 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97201 USA.
²¹ Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of Ottawa, Simard Hall, Rm 047, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5 Canada.
²² International Development Research Centre, 150 Kent St., Ottawa, ON K1P 0B2 Canada.
²³ Nature for Climate Branch, Ecosystems Division, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya.
²⁴ Yale School of Environment, 360 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511 USA.
²⁵ Mali-Folke Centre, Bamako, Mali.
²⁶ University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
²⁷ Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Medford, USA.

PMID: 35425913
PMCID: PMC8475313
DOI: 10.1007/s43621-021-00052-9

Abstract

People affected by conflict are particularly vulnerable to climate shocks and climate change, yet little is known about climate change adaptation in fragile contexts. While climate events are one of the many contributing drivers of conflict, feedback from conflict increases vulnerability, thereby creating conditions for a vicious cycle of conflict. In this study, we carry out a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature, taking from the Global Adaptation Mapping Initiative (GAMI) dataset to documenting climate change adaptation occurring in 15 conflict-affected countries and compare the findings with records of climate adaptation finance flows and climate-related disasters in each country. Academic literature is sparse for most conflict-affected countries, and available studies tend to have a narrow focus, particularly on agriculture-related adaptation in rural contexts and adaptation by low-income actors. In contrast, multilateral and bilateral funding for climate change adaptation addresses a greater diversity of adaptation needs, including water systems, humanitarian programming, and urban areas. Even among the conflict-affected countries selected, we find disparity, with several countries being the focus of substantial research and funding, and others seeing little to none. Results indicate that people in conflict-affected contexts are adapting to climate change, but there is a pressing need for diverse scholarship across various sectors that documents a broader range of adaptation types and their results.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Number of articles per country in the GAMI database. Of each set of articles per country, the articles with at least one coauthor from that country are represented in orange

**Fig. 2**
Relative frequency of sectoral focus for all papers for the 15 conflict-affected countries

**Fig. 3**
Funding amounts pledged via multilateral and bilateral climate change adaptation funds

**Fig. 4**
Frequency of climate-related disaster events between 2010–2019 per country (GLIDE)

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

1. Abrahams D, Carr ER. Understanding the connections between climate change and conflict: contributions from geography and political ecology. Curr Clim Change Rep. 2017;3(4):233–42.
1. Abimbola S. The uses of knowledge in global health. Br Med J Glob Health. 2021;6(4):e005802. - PMC - PubMed
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1. Adebisi-Adelani O, Oyesola OB. (2012). Fruit vegetable farmers' perception of climate change and adaptation strategies in Gombe State, Nigeria. In: II All Africa horticulture congress 1007. p. 925–933.
1. Adeleke ML, Al-Kenawy D, Nasr-Allah AM, Murphy S, El-Naggar GO, Dickson M. Fish farmers’ perceptions impacts and adaptation on/of/to climate change in Africa (the case of Egypt and Nigeria). In: Theory and practice of climate adaptation. Cham: Springer; 2018. p. 269–95.

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Climate change adaptation in conflict-affected countries: A systematic assessment of evidence

Affiliations

Climate change adaptation in conflict-affected countries: A systematic assessment of evidence

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources