Catherine Wong writes:

The Paris Agreement was nothing less than a landmark agreement. Legally binding, adopted by 196 parties to the convention, it has inspired hope and ambition to get to net-zero emissions and limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The Paris Agreement does not, however, mention conflict or fragility, neither peace nor security, even once – neither did the Kyoto Protocol before it, nor does the Sendai Framework directly address any of these issues either.

What is apparent is that within the climate change community’s lexicon, conflict and fragility simply do not exist, when the reality is that many of those on the forefront of the climate emergency also struggle with fragility and conflict. The international negotiations make provisions for least developed countries (LDCs), but this does not account for the fact that around 50% of fragile states are LDCs and 70% of LDCs feature on the World Bank’s harmonised list of fragile states. Moreover, an estimated two-thirds of the global extreme poor will reside in fragile and conflict-affected situations by 2030. Hence, peace cannot be a basic assumption that we take for granted. Humanitarian finance may help those most desperately in need to make it through the day. But without fundamental changes to our modes of production and consumption and the foresight of long-term investments in adaptation, many communities in need may remain stuck in that cycle every day.

If our multilateral environmental agreements do not recognise the plight of conflict-affected and fragile contexts, those who are highly exposed and vulnerable to climate change may continue to suffer the lowest access to climate finance. Thus, this is not just a matter of semantics. This lacuna in research stymies innovation. We can conclude that, unless the aperture of global climate governance recalibrates quickly to focus on the specific needs and gaps of conflict-affected and fragile states, climate change vulnerability – all things being equal – will likely continue to increase, due to lack of investment. [Continue reading…]