Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

UN: Climate Change Plays Crucial Role in Exacerbating African Conflicts


Sun 03 Jul 2022 | 04:14 PM
Ahmed Emam

The UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support Elizabeth Spehar said that climate change is widely recognized as a "threat multiplier", noting that this issue plays a crucial role in exacerbating the cause of conflicts in Africa.

During her participation at the Aswan Forum, Spehar cited climate change as an additional stressor in regions of prolonged conflict in the largest second continent, saying, "Climate change is having a growing impact on the African continent's stability and safety."

She asserted that innovative solutions are crucial to address the peace and security challenges on the continent by working under public-private partnerships (PPPs) and with the private sector to avail extra finances to address such an issue.

"Nearly, $50-70 billion are allocated annually in peace building finances," she noted.

According to a study issued by the UN, the most egregious form is the way changes in climate alter competition over increasingly scarce resources.

Research on the so-called 'heat--aggression relationship' suggests there is a 10- 20% increase in the risk of armed conflict associated with each 0.5°C increase in local temperatures.