Climate change, peace and security in Afghanistan
Afghanistan is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change: rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns and increasingly frequent extreme weather events. Currently, Afghanistan is experiencing its worst drought in 27 years, which, compounded with COVID-19 and the economic contraction that followed the takeover of the government by the Taliban in August 2021, has significantly increased livelihood and food insecurity and contributed to a growing humanitarian emergency.
- Climate change exacerbates the deteriorating conditions for agriculture-based livelihoods and food insecurity.
- Conflict and the effects of climate change have increased internal displacement and changed migration patterns. High levels of displacement accentuate food and livelihood insecurity and increase the vulnerability of marginalised groups, including women.
- The effects of climate change may heighten the risk of more frequent and intense local conflicts over land and water and increase tensions over transboundary resources.
- Conflict has eroded the resilience of communities and local authorities to adapt to climate change and to deal with the current humanitarian crisis. This creates opportunities for elites to manipulate and profit from land and water disputes, with elevated risks for marginalised groups.
The Climate-related Peace and Security Risks project launches its fifth fact sheet, this time on climate-related security risks in Afghanistan.
The project is jointly undertaken by the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) and Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) with funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It aims to generate reliable, relevant, timely and actionable information and analysis on climate-related peace and security risks for selected countries and regions on the UN Security Council agenda. Its main product is a series of fact sheets on countries on the agenda of the Security Council.
The fact sheet, which contains recommendations on addressing climate change, can be found here.
Read the other fact sheets here:
Further reading: