Climate change is making life tougher. Across Africa, failed harvests, shrinking water supplies and more extreme weather are leaving millions of people hungry and forcing many from their homes. When communities compete for land and water, the risk of conflict can grow. African governments are now developing a Common African Position on Climate, Peace and Security to tackle these problems together. But will it lead to real change on the ground? Gracsious Maviza and Katongo Seyuba research climate risks and security. They explain how climate change is affecting peace and security across the continent, what the new framework proposes, and what governments must do to make it work.
What key peace and security problems do African countries face today?
Many African countries face peace and security problems that go far beyond war. These include political instability, violent extremist groups, organised crime and armed militias.
What makes unstable countries worse is weak governments, corruption and poor quality public services.
These problems often affect several neighbouring countries at once rather than staying within one country’s borders. At the same time, Africa’s population is growing rapidly and more people are moving to cities. However, many countries are struggling to create enough jobs and economic opportunities, especially for young people.
Frustration over poor governance has fuelled protests and unrest, and in some countries has helped create the conditions for the return of military coups since 2020.
How does climate change make these problems worse?
Courtesy Gracsious Maviza
Climate change is rarely a direct cause of conflict. It mainly affects peace and security indirectly, by making life much more difficult for many people.
Through desk reviews, interviews and field visits, we looked at how climate change is making it harder for people to earn a living. We also studied the effect of climate change on peace and security.
Rising temperatures, changing rainfall, droughts and floods reduce crop and livestock production and increase competition for land and water. In the Sahel, west Africa and the Horn of Africa, these pressures have sometimes heightened tensions between farmers and pastoralists.
Across southern Africa, repeated droughts have caused crop failures, livestock losses, food shortages and falling household incomes. Climate-related disasters affected more than 2.5 million people in Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe in 2021 and 2022 alone.
Climate disasters also force people to move in search of safety and work, adding pressure on jobs and public services elsewhere. Pastoralists are changing their traditional routes to find water and grazing land, sometimes increasing tensions between communities and across borders.
Armed groups can exploit anger and hardship in places where livelihoods have collapsed and government support is limited. This has happened in Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Climate change can increase insecurity, while conflict leaves communities less able to withstand the next drought or flood.
What is the Common African Position on Climate, Peace and Security?
The Common African Position on Climate, Peace and Security is the first ever continent-wide framework on these issues. It’s being developed by the African Union and its member states. Once it is complete, implementation plans will be developed.
It aims to help African countries deal with the ways climate change is making conflict and insecurity worse. It sets out a shared approach for governments so that, instead of each country tackling the problem differently, they can work together and take climate change into account when planning for peace, security, disaster response and development.
Africa has adopted climate and peace commitments before. But this is significantly different because it brings climate, peace and security together in one continental framework. Usually, they are all treated as separate issues.
This framework would help African governments and regional organisations work together. They could improve warnings about droughts, floods, food shortages and displacement, and reduce conflict over scarce land and water. It could also help secure more funding for vulnerable communities by strengthening organisations and systems that already exist.
The Common African Position is also about ensuring that Africa develops its own solutions, based on the continent’s own experiences, expertise and priorities, rather than relying on approaches developed outside the continent.
What is needed to turn it into action?
The first step is to finalise the Common African Position on Climate, Peace and Security. In February 2026, the African Union Peace and Security Council called on experts from all member states to complete it, preferably during the second half of 2026. It said the position must reflect conditions in different countries and regions, and be developed through broad consultation.
But agreement on paper will not be enough. The position needs an implementation plan setting out what must be done, who will do it and how progress will be measured.
National governments can include climate-related security risks in their development and climate adaptation plans, budgets, early warning systems and conflict prevention work. They should also review policies covering agriculture, water, land and disaster management to determine whether they reduce tensions over scarce re
Regional organisations can strengthen cross-border warnings about droughts, floods and displacement, and coordinate responses between countries. In the Horn of Africa, for example, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development has already included climate, peace and security in its work and secured political support from its member states.
This work does not necessarily require new organisations. Governments and regional bodies can use existing institutions, but they must work together more closely and consider climate-related security risks in the decisions they already make. This could help countries respond more effectively to droughts, food shortages, displacement and other pressures that cross national borders.
Governments must also fund this work through national budgets. The African Union, international partners and donors can direct additional funding towards places facing both severe climate threats and conflict or instability. There is no cost estimate yet because the Common African Position is still being finalised. Donors should support priorities set by African countries and strengthen existing institutions instead of creating competing initiatives.
