Towards a common vision of climate, peace, and security in Somalia

Somalia has long struggled to overcome the social, economic, and political
fragmentation that arose following the 1991 civil war and the subsequent
collapse of the central state. Since then, the country has experienced
repeated cycles of internal strife and external intervention. The role of climate change and environmental degradation in further exacerbating these dynamics has become increasingly evident over the past decade or so. Aside from contributing to recurring humanitarian crises and displacement, environmental extremes also feed into the emergence of natural resource competition and offer new strategic opportunities for non-state armed groups (NSAGs) to further assert their dominance. Efforts to promote sustainable development within Somalia must account
for these systemic interconnections across the realms of climate, peace,
and security. The Alliance of Bioversity/CIAT’s FOCUS Climate Security team – in
partnership with FAO Somalia and the IGAD Centre of Excellence for
Climate Adaptation and Environmental Protection (IGAD CAEP) – held a
3-day workshop in Mogadishu to explore the challenges and opportunities
for integrating climate, peace, and security into policy and programmatic
frameworks.