Climate change and violent conflict

Any form of migration that is brought about by the changes in climate is majorly domestic and not international, and hence there is no evidence that interstate conflicts are caused by either direct or indirect changes in the environment. Effects related to climate tend to grow with the issues that referred to time and space which in many circumstances are very hard to predict. There is no direct link that climate changes causes violent conflicts however indirect links exists that it leads to development of disputes such as a deterioration of livelihoods among farmers and pastoralists, reduction in resources in essential areas for production, tactical considerations among various armed groups and contributes to issues of elite exploitation based on the local grievances.

Research indicates that the Security Council had investigated the changes in climate around Lake Chad areas and makes notifications on the changes in the environment which had been attributed to the changes in instability in the region. The changes in the background in these regions are therefore mediated through the scarcity of water, land, desertification, insecurity of food and degradation of land. Trade, livelihoods, and economy will be affected in these regions due to changes in the sea level and hence will call for more preparedness and critical planning (Hsiang et al. , 2013, p. The ability to make effective decisions in these regions becomes difficult in addition to causing variances in governance and adaptation capacity. Many communities who live within the coastal areas have opted to move to those areas that are elevated and more protected.

An example of affected communities includes those in Alaska who had been negatively affected by the rise in sea level and the presence of warm winters. Neil Adger, 2017, pp. There is limited indication that migrants in various regions they migrate to have turned out to be threats to the security however in cases where they are denied to relocate to certain states they live precarious lives. In this case, they are mostly subjects of violation of human rights and further encounter dangerous conditions in their journey to destined regions. Some of the pastoralists, for example, are denied the traditional movements in the new areas and across border hence forcing them to reduce their flocks and adopt negative means of livelihood that they are not familiar with.

According to the research community, there is a consensus on the fact that, there is no direct relationship between the changes in climate and the development of violent conflicts (Salehyan, Idean, 2018, pp. Such a critical approach would later be used in creating an effective remedy to the case. Researchers had made a critical example by focusing on the East African example to understand the relationship between violent conflicts and the changes in climate. The studies in Sudan and the East African region describes that there are major conflicts close to natural resources such as water in pastoral communities. External parties in most cases tend to exploit such conflicts while seeking power recognition. According to the above study changes in climate contributes of development of violent conflicts such as livelihood deterioration, increased rate of migration, changing the mobility patterns of the pastoral communities and an elite capturing of the local disaffection.

Concerning this, there is an increased rate of livestock stealing in the rainy seasons in East Africa as opposed to during drought conditions. This is due to the availability of forest protection and the fact that the animals could be long travel distances because they are healthy. Finally, climate causes issues of elite exploitation based on the local grievances (Gleditsch, Nils Petter, 2016, pp. These conflicts related to the environment are in most cases happening in a specific geographical location because of the availability of the elite groups which in this case is the farmers and the pastoral communities. Local and national elites use such opportunities to conceal personal problems and further acquire support from certain groups against others. There is a need to develop essential interventions that would support an interactive way of adapting the changes in climate among farmers and pastoral communities and it will be important to address such interventions using the local context.