10 Insights on climate impacts and peace

CASCADES publication June 2020

Climate change is one of the most pressing political, economic and environmental issues of our time. Not only has our understanding of climate change and its direct impacts advanced significantly over the past decade, but so too has our knowledge of the relationships between climate change, security and peace. This synthesis for policymakers provides an overview of the growing research on the links between climate change, security and peace. In particular, it answers the following questions:

• When and how can climate change contribute to more conflict and fragility?
• On which points do scholars disagree and why?
• Why is existing research likely underestimating climate-related security
• risks?
• How can we expect climate-related security risks to develop in the years
• ahead?
• What are critical gaps in our knowledge of climate-related security risks?

In 10 Insights, we set out our current understanding of the links between climate change, fragility and conflict.