Climate change is altering security landscapes around the world. West Africa is experiencing climate change at rates faster than the global average. Climate change is also interacting with regional political tensions, violent conflicts and complex humanitarian emergencies. As changing climate conditions impact natural resource availability, biodiversity and agricultural productivity, low levels of resilience are magnifying the human security implications of climate change in West Africa.

In southern Iraq, decades of water insecurity have influenced migration patterns by endangering agricultural output and the livelihoods of farmers. Although global migration is – contrary to popular discourse – remarkably stable, representing on average 3% of the global population in the last 50 years, the majority of people tend to migrate within rather than across borders. 30 out of the 40 million global internal displacements in 2020 were related to water-related hazards.

The Inner Niger Delta is home to over two million people working in agriculture, livestock herding, and fishing. People depend on the water from the Delta for food security, livelihoods and daily life.

Climatic stressors like drought, the associated decline in rainfall and increased flooding negatively affect already vulnerable communities, and current predictions show the situation will worsen for future generations.

The vast Sahelian region of the Liptako Gourma—which spans the three-way frontier among Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger—is in the grips of a complex humanitarian and security crisis that is endangering the lives of millions.

From 22-24 March, the UN 2023 Water Conference will be co-hosted by The Netherlands and Tajikistan in New York. It aims to create a Water Action Agenda.

Four of the 10 countries most affected by climate change in the past 20 years are in Southeast Asia. As such, climate change poses a profound threat to populations across the region, spanning traditional security dimensions as well as non-traditional aspects such as food, water and health security. In particular, marginalised groups such as women, the disabled, rural populations and refugees are disproportionately affected by climate-induced security threats and yet have limited capacities to adapt to these changes.

Violent conflict and state oppression in Myanmar demonstrates the importance of placing conflict analysis and people-centred approaches at the centre of international programming on climate change and environmental protection.

In the coming decades, Sweden will face increasing security risks due to climate change. These risks stem primarily from climate hazards outside Sweden’s borders, though warming temperatures and increasingly erratic and intense precipitation may strain the country’s domestic military, energy, and economic infrastructure.

Energy security and climate change intersect foreign policy at the juncture of national security. India and China, as the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs), have committed to global climate change mitigation by announcing a substantial upscaling of renewable energy (RE) in their total energy mix. China, however, continues to dominate the production chains for rare earths, minerals like lithium and cobalt, and low-cost RE technologies.