The Role of Regional Organization in Addressing Climate Change as an Emerging Security Threat in Africa: a Case Study of Igad

Abstract

There is growing evidence that climate change will have severe consequences on the lives and livelihoods of millions of people around the world. And these impacts are arriving faster than many climate scientists predicted. As science has revealed the speed and scope of climate change, the world has begun to realize that it holds potentially serious implications for international security. Some analysts have labeled it the ‘mother of all security problems’. A 2007 report by UNEP warned of “a succession of new wars across Africa” unless more is done to contain the danger of climate change. Yet the world’s efforts to date fall short. Through the primary forum for negotiating global efforts to address climate change, the UNFCCC, countries are delivering modest progress at a pace that many commentators consider too slow. The need for solutions that can catalyze efforts to address climate change is combined today with a need to answer the question of which avenues offer the greatest promise of moving countries forward. Regional institutions such as the IGAD have acquired a substantive role in peace and security affairs in various parts of the world and have already attained a level of effectiveness in this area. The study seeks to investigate whether emphasis on regional organizations can give rise to better cooperation among countries within the current and future governance for climate change to address the climate change-security nexus. It will assess the relationship between climate change and security in the IGAD region and identity the challenges and capacity of the IGAD in managing the adverse effects of climate change to ensure they do not become security threats