Darfur, Conflict and Climate Change

Abstract

The issue of climate change poses to be one of the most pressing challenges facing community of nation states in the 21st century. While both developed and developing nations will feel the far-reaching impacts of climate change, Africa, as a whole, will be hit hardest by effects of climate change. The combination of resource scarcity, human insecurity, weak political institutions and limited financial means is likely to nurture the ripe conditions for conflict to erupt. Already this is evident in Darfur where the impacts of climate change have contributed to the outbreak of acute conflict. These impacts include expanding desertification, decreased rainfall and land degradation. The consequences are dire, as pastoralists have migrated south for improved grazing for their herds, yet farmers have denied them access due to their marginal lands. As a result, more Darfurians are competing for access to land, water, and other natural resources than at any other time. The increased competition only further aggravates the already uneasy political, social, and ethnic relationships in the Darfur region. This Master’s Project first discusses the linkages between climate changes, weak states, and conflict and second how preventative adaptation strategies can alleviate conflicts.