Climate and conflict are inextricably linked.
While everyone is feeling the effects of climate change, in a conflict context this is amplified. On the one hand, climate change and the resulting increased competition for scarce resources is a conflict driver, while at the same time people in conflict affected settings have less means to deal with climate change and build resilience. This inequality is even higher for women and youth, who are disproportionately affected by climate change.
These linkages between climate and conflict exist at all levels, from increasing interpersonal violence, over societal conflicts (increasing inequalities, local resource competition, impact of shifting mobility patterns etc.), to global debates over equitable financing. At the same time, climate change and environmental degradation present an opportunity to bring people together across dividing lines to address a shared challenge.
Climate & Conflict Resources
Policy Brief – Climate Change, Gender and Youth in Gatumba
Gatumba, a peri-urban border zone in western Burundi facing the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has suffered recurrent and increasingly destructive flooding for the past decade. These shocks have disrupted livelihoods, housing, schooling and social cohesion. While the whole community is affected, the impacts are deeply gendered and generational. Drawing…
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Policy Brief – Climate Adaptation, Local Governance and Social Cohesion in Burundi
Gatumba, a flood-prone peri-urban border zone in western Burundi facing the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has endured recurrent and increasingly destructive flooding for the past decade. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork in 2025 and 2026, this brief examines how climate change interacts with governance, land politics and regional conflict —…
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When the Wood Ran Out, Women Found Another Way
Most people treat climate change and conflict as separate problems. One is an environmental crisis. The other is a human one. They get different budgets, different departments, different solutions. But in the communities Search for Common Ground works in, they arrive together. Climate shocks deepen inequality, strain shared resources, and…
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Make Space for Peace at COP30
Over the past five years, progress has been made to interlink the global concerns for peace and climate action in international climate fora. Ignoring peace and conflict risks at COP30 may jeopardise effective climate action. The first of its kind, the COP28 Declaration on Climate, Relief, Recovery and Peace called…
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Make Space for Peace at COP30: Lasting climate action requires lasting peace
Over the past five years, progress has been made to interlink the global concerns for peace and climate action in international climate fora. Ignoring peace and conflict risks at COP30 may jeopardise effective climate action. The first of its kind, the COP28 Declaration on Climate, Relief, Recovery and Peace called…
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COMITAS II Project Success Stories – From Conflict to Coexistence
The COMITAS II project focuses on mitigating conflicts over natural resources between farmer and herder communities in Adamawa and Taraba States, Nigeria. The project, funded by the European Union and implemented by a consortium including the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Mercy Corps, and Search for Common Ground (SFCG), aims…
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Carbon Offset in Niger Delta: Scoping Study Report
The “Carbon Offset in the Niger Delta: Scoping Study Report,” funded by the European Union and implemented by Search for Common Ground, SDN, and PIND, examines the potential impact of carbon offset policies in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region, focusing on Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers States. The study, published in May…
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COP30 – What should be delivered on Climate, Peace, and Security?
The increased frequency and intensity of climate impacts bring with them a higher isk of violent conflict. This is what 3000 respondents to a survey by World Vision International across various contexts ranging from Papua New Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo to Iraq answered when asked about their…
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Environmental peacebuilding as a climate-security priority for the EU – Examples from the Sahel
The Central Sahel faces interlinked crises of conflict, climate change and fragility, but responses have been fragmented. Environmental peacebuilding offers opportunities to promote cooperation between conflicting groups through climate-sensitive and mutually beneficial projects around natural resources. In this brief, we explore what the EU’s agenda means for environmental peacebuilding by…
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Why climate resilience must be at the heart of peacebuilding in the Sahel
In the Sahel, climate change is not a distant threat. It’s a daily reality that intensifies existing tensions, deepens socio-economic divides, and fuels violent conflict. Rising temperatures and erratic weather patterns aren’t just environmental concerns. They are powerful accelerants of instability in already fragile contexts. At Search for Common Ground,…
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