Climate Crisis, Conflict, and Civilian Protection: A Security Council Briefing

Interconnected Crises: Climate, Conflict, and Civilians

• 🌍 Climate change is a significant driver that exacerbates the risk of conflict, prolongs existing ones, and increases the vulnerability of civilians, particularly in conflict-affected areas.
• ⚠️ The intersection of climate impacts, conflict, and civilian protection places immense strain on state security forces and UN peace operations.

Vulnerability and Displacement

• 📈 10 out of 12 countries facing the highest ecological threats are also in conflict, and 70% of climate-vulnerable nations are the most fragile.
• 🏘️ An estimated 20 million people are displaced annually by climate hazards, creating complex protection challenges for both displaced persons and host communities.
• 📚 Severe climate events like flooding can disrupt essential services such as education, making children and youth more susceptible to recruitment and exploitation by armed groups.

Disproportionate Impacts on Vulnerable Groups

• ♿ Persons with disabilities face unique mobility and survival challenges in climate-affected regions, especially with inadequate infrastructure and support.
• 👩‍👧‍👦 Women and girls are disproportionately affected due to existing inequalities limiting their access to resources, increasing their exposure to disaster risks, and forcing them to travel further for necessities, thus raising their risk of attack, including sexual and gender-based violence.

Challenges for Peace Operations

• 🕊️ Most UN peace operations with a civilian protection mandate operate in regions heavily impacted by climate change, facing difficulties due to unpredictable environmental conditions like floods, mudslides, and droughts.
• ⚡ These missions must evolve to adopt more adaptive, climate-sensitive, and resilient strategies, including early warning mechanisms, to anticipate and respond to extreme weather events and their impact on mandated tasks.

Strengthening Resilience and Root Causes

• 🔑 Prioritizing comprehensive, conflict-sensitive strategies is crucial to strengthen community resilience, address the root causes of conflict, and enhance the adaptive capacity and protection needs of vulnerable populations.
• 🚀 By focusing on these interconnected issues, we can improve current responses to climate-induced protection challenges and better prepare for future ones.