The Correlation of Climate Change and Conflict

A few months back, I was asked an interesting question — “Do you think #climatechange heightens the risk of #conflict?”. Definitely a #foodforthought. This has also inspired me to write my own article titled, “The Correlation of Climate Change and Conflict”.

Here’s the thing: While climate change may not directly cause conflict, it can intensify the risks. A milestone study in 2015 has reflected that a rise in temperature by just a mere degree celsius can increase conflict between individuals by 2.4%, and between groups by 11.3%.

Similarly, conflict can also threaten climate change, leading to both climate change and conflict feeding off each other in a vicious cycle.

Given that the converging crises of conflict and climate change can be mutually reinforcing, we need to stop tackling them in silos. Instead, we must integrate climate adaptation considerations into peacebuilding agendas.