New Tool Offers Key Insights for Tackling Climate and Conflict Challenges

Nov 14, 2024 | Kayly Ober, Daniel Abrahams, and Luna Ruiz
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When the White House released the US Framework for Climate Resilience and Security in September 2024, it was an important opportunity to highlight the significant impacts of climate change on US national security, economic, and strategic interests. The Framework also emphasized the need for tailored approaches in fragile, conflict-affected, and vulnerable (FCV) contexts, particularly in managing and allocating resources, as well as ensuring that climate finance addresses conflict drivers.

This is imperative because climate impacts are not isolated; they interact with other pressures, creating complex, compound risks, especially in FCV contexts. In these settings, the factors that make a place vulnerable to conflict—such as exclusionary political systems, low economic development, and unequal resource distribution—are often the very same reasons that make it vulnerable to climate change. Conflict-related destruction and institutional breakdown also weaken systems essential for resilience against climate shocks, compounding challenges. 

The US Department of State and US Agency for International Development (USAID) now have partnered to produce the Climate Fragility Programming Resource Guide to deepen understanding of how to address joint climate change and conflict challenges. It demonstrates the importance of addressing climate risks in FCV contexts, and provides guidance on how to incorporate climate and environment considerations into programming for those working on conflict prevention and stabilization.