Africa Confronts Climate–Security Crisis with Call for Peace-Resilient Action

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has placed the climate–security link at the heart of its strategy to build resilience in fragile states.

Climate change is no longer just an environmental crisis in Africa—it is a driver of conflict, forced displacement, and growing insecurity across the continent. As climate extremes escalate, Africa’s most vulnerable communities are being pushed to the edge, with rising temperatures, water scarcity, and erratic rainfall increasingly triggering armed confrontations, inter-community clashes, and even terrorism.

To address this worsening climate–peace–security nexus, high-level representatives from African institutions, the United Nations, civil society, and development partners convened on 14 November 2025 in Belém, Brazil—the host city of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30). Held under the theme “Adapting for Stability – Scaling Partnerships for Peace and Climate Resilience in Africa,” the roundtable provided a collaborative platform for mapping out joint responses to one of the continent’s most urgent, multidimensional crises.

A Triple Crisis: Climate, Conflict, and Fragility

Africa is bearing a disproportionate burden of climate change:

• Nine of the world’s 10 most climate-vulnerable countries are in Africa.

• Twelve of the 19 countries most affected by armed conflict are on the continent.

• Nine of the 20 most fragile nations globally are African.

According to the African Development Bank Group’s Dr Al Hamndou Dorsouma, the link between environmental stress and conflict is becoming alarmingly clear:

“In 2024 alone, climate disasters caused 9.8 million new internal displacements in Africa,” he said. “Declining rainfall and water scarcity are disrupting pastoral migration, increasing tensions between herders and farmers. These conflicts are spreading across regions—from Ethiopia and Darfur to Kenya, Nigeria, and the Sahel.”

“No Climate Projects Without Peace”

Participants repeatedly emphasized that peacebuilding must be embedded in climate action. As Nazanine Moshiri, Senior Advisor at the Berghof Foundation, put it:

“There can be no implementation of climate projects without peace; we cannot fight climate change without peace.”

This resonates deeply in fragile contexts where governance is weak, institutions are strained, and climate finance is often inaccessible.

Abdi Fidar, Director at the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre, noted that fragile states are consistently overlooked in climate finance allocations, further marginalizing populations already living on the edge.

AfDB’s Three-Pillar Climate-Security Strategy

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has placed the climate–security link at the heart of its strategy to build resilience in fragile states. Dr Dorsouma outlined a three-pronged approach:

1. Strategy for Addressing Fragility and Building Resilience, supported by the Transition Support Facility (TSF) for 37 low-income fragile states.

2. Climate Change and Green Growth Strategic Framework (2030), integrating fragility and climate risks into project design.

3. Climate Action Window, launched in 2023 under the African Development Fund, with an initial envelope of $450 million.

In just one year, the Climate Action Window has:

• Funded 59 projects in climate-vulnerable states

• Invested $386 million, with 41 adaptation and 18 mitigation operations

• Focused on water security, early warning systems, and climate-smart agriculture

“Every dollar invested in climate adaptation generates between $2 and $10 in returns,” said Dorsouma. “It’s not only a moral imperative—it’s an economic one.”

From Fragility to Resilience: A New Development Paradigm

The roundtable called for a shift in development thinking. Instead of separating humanitarian response, peacebuilding, and climate action, stakeholders must act in concert, ensuring:

• Early warning systems reach the communities that need them most

• Climate finance is directed to fragile regions

• Local knowledge and civil society participation are prioritized

“Resilience must become the foundation of development,” said Dorsouma. “We cannot allow climate change to undo decades of progress.”

Civil Society: A Voice for Justice and Stability

Charles Mwangi, Head of Programmes at the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), closed the session with a call to include civil society—especially those rooted in affected communities—in the design and governance of climate-security responses.

“Excluding local voices only leads to mistrust and conflict. Inclusive climate policy is not just more just—it is more effective,” Mwangi asserted.

A Call to Action: Climate-Resilient Peacebuilding

The roundtable concluded with a shared recognition: Africa’s climate crisis is a peace and security crisis. Addressing it requires:

• Integrating fragility into climate finance frameworks

• Scaling investments in adaptation and resilience

• Reinforcing local and regional institutions

• Bridging humanitarian, development, and peace efforts

• Ensuring inclusive governance and meaningful community engagement

With Africa on the frontlines of climate change, the stakes have never been higher. But as the Belém roundtable demonstrated, there is a strong and growing coalition ready to act—provided the international community delivers on its promises of partnership and investment.