Security risks, conflicts affecting African societies are impacted by climate change – Expert
By Ben Ngwakwe, Gombe
The Director-General, Research and Documentation, Government House, Dr Muazu Shehu, has delivered a lecture on Climate Change and the Growing Insecurity in Africa at the Executive Intelligence Management Course (EIMC) 15 Seminar of the National Institute of Security Studies, Abuja on Tuesday 4th October 2022.
The EIMC is a strategic leadership training programme whose participants are drawn from Deputy Directors in rank or its equivalent from the Military, Paramilitary, Security/Intelligence, Law Enforcement and other MDAs strategic to the security arrangements of the nation as well as their counterparts from some African countries.
In the paper, Shehu, critically explained the scope and extent of the global climate change and associated environmental crisis before summarizing the effects of climate change that are believed to have implications for security and conflicts. The scholar also discussed how the various security risks affecting African societies are impacted by climate change and made a case for rethinking climate action and security and suggested ways forward to achieving an integrated and multi-sectoral approach to combating climate-induced security risks.
According to him, global climate change is understood as the biggest and most central problem facing humanity today and scientific opinion is virtually unanimous that climate change is caused by human activity – global warming due to increased carbon emissions.
He observed that humans today are altering earth’s biophysical and ecological systems at a planetary scale and extreme pressure on the natural environment such as forests, water and land is causing ecological harm of unimaginable proportions.
The expert further summarized the impacts of climate change as well the various factors that influence climate change security risks with concrete examples from conflicts and security challenges affecting countries of the Sub-Saharan Africa.
Shehu noted that although, climate change is not the direct cause of conflicts and insecurity in Africa, its effects have significant implications for security. He argued that the impacts of climate change on violent conflicts and other security risks are mediated by other social, economic and political undercurrents.
The academic pointed out that some of the factors influencing the relationship between climate change and security risks include the vulnerability and resilience of the population, presence and strength of political institutions, severity of climate emergencies, sensitivity of existing adaptation measures etc.
The Director-General, who also doubles as an Associate Professor of Environmental Sociology, draws examples from the Gombe Goes Green environmental restoration initiative to demonstrate how governments at different levels can apply natural solutions to improve climate change adaptation and resilience and, in the process, minimise the security risks associated with the negative impacts of climate change in Africa. In his words, “the Gombe Goes Green Programme of the Gombe State Government represents a spectacular example of applying natural solutions to improve climate change adaptation and build resilience of communities to its impacted.”
The scholar said, efforts aimed at combating climate induced conflicts and security risks need to be holistic, context sensitive, involve critical local stakeholders. In his concluding remarks, he emphasized the need to integrate climate-related security risks into existing country analysis and reporting on conflict issues and trends.
It may be recalled that in April this year, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya received the NISS EIMC 15 participants and faculty members who were on study tour of Gombe State. During their interaction, the Governor informed the visitors about the efforts his government is making to ensure effective management of the environment through various initiatives, notably, the Gombe Goes Green programme. The theme of the Executive Intelligence Management Course 15 of the National Institute of Security Studies is “Global Climate Change: Prospects and Priorities for Economic Development and Conflict Resolution in Africa.”
