Conflict-sensitive adaptation to climate change in Africa

By Urmilla Bob

A number of developments at global policy and academic levels on climate change and conflict, and conflict-sensitive adaptation, provide impetus for this timely edited book volume. Two such developments have taken place at international, UN level. The first such development has been that the security implications of climate change are receiving increasing attention at the UN Security Council (UNSC). The UNSC debated the issue in 2007; this was followed in 2009 by a report from the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon outlining the possible security implications of climate change. However, as the body responsible for international security, the UNSC had not, until July 2011, formally recognised the security risks posed by climate change. In that month, discussions resulted in a Presidential Statement emphasising the importance of contextual information in addressing the security risks of climate change.