Nowhere is the link between climate change and security issues more evident than in Africa, said Ahmed Hussein, Egypt’s representative to the African Union Peace and Security Council. “The crisis in Darfur, several crises in the Sahel region… They are due to the lack of resources. People can’t provide for their families, so they try to find other ways to do so. This causes conflicts. And these conflicts turn into war. Climate change therefore acts as an amplifier of what is happening on the continent,” assures Ahmed Hussein.
If the observation is there, decision-makers lacked scientific data. To remedy this, in 2018 the African Union commissioned a study published in August 2024. Entitled “Assessing the risks linked to climate security in Africa”, this detailed analysis of more than 350 pages aims to arrive at an approach common on the continent, explains Lt. Col. Sheku Tejan Sesay of the African Union Commission. “The common African position is still a work in progress. Because it requires the agreement of our 55 members. They must take ownership of the study and be confident enough to consider this document as their own.”
The study still needs to be adopted by the African Union Peace and Security Council.
