Policy Response to Climate-Related Security Risks: The African Union
Publisher: Stockholm International Peace and Research Institute
Author(s): Vane Aminga
Date: 2020
Topics: Climate Change, Governance, Humanitarian Assistance, Renewable Resources
Countries: Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo (DRC), Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda
The security challenges arising from climate change often go beyond state boundaries. They pose unique and multidimensional issues for governments and institutions trying to find adequate responses. Such challenges are exponentially more difficult in Africa than in some other parts of the world. Africa is responsible for a mere 4 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions.1 Yet, 57 per cent of the countries facing the highest double burden of climate exposure and political fragility risks are located in sub-Saharan Africa.2 As the risks are most pronounced in fragile countries and transcend boundaries, responses from intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) such as the African Union (AU) are crucial to identify, assess, respond to and prevent climate-related security risks. However, there is currently little knowledge of how the AU understands or responds to climate-related security risks. Previous research on institutional responses to climate-related security risks suggests that responses require: (a) an integrated approach that combines knowledge on climate risks and the social and political realities in the local context and (b) transnational responses by nations and supranational organizations.3 Building on previous research, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the AU’s climate security policy landscape for interested policymakers in Africa and beyond.4 Throughout the paper, the term ‘climate-related security risks’ encompasses a diverse and wide array of impacts and risks emerging from climate change and how they undermine the security of different referent objects–human and state security. The main policy analysis is structured along the dimensions of: (a) whom the provisions for climate-related security are for, that is, whether the referent object is either human or state security, (b) the exact location of climate-related security matters on the AU architecture, that is, the organ(s) responsible for implementing the work, and (c) the institutional response and policy implementation. This paper is organized as follows. Section II presents an overview of the AU structures and processes to provide a broad understanding of the overall AU decision-making process. This is followed by a description of the paper’s methodological approach in section III. Sections IV–VII continue with an analysis of AU policies on climate-related security risks under the four thematic policy areas of: food security, peace and security, human security, and energy security and natural resource use crises. Finally, section VIII summarizes the AU position on climate-related security risks, with highlights of the main challenges faced. An accompanying Policy Brief provides a broader assessment of the paper’s outcomes with relevant policy recommendations.5