Bridging the Science-Policy Gap and Fostering Solutions to address Climate, Peace and Security: The CGIAR Climate Security Observatory

Most of the highly food-insecure people in the world are in a handful of conflict-affected countries highly vulnerable to climate extremes. The ongoing climate crisis is further exacerbating root causes of conflict and instability, such as food insecurity, poverty, and forced displacement, to mention a few. On the other hand, conflict, tensions, and instability significantly undermine climate resilience efforts, rendering affected populations increasingly unable to cope with the climate crisis (IPCC 2023, 3.1.2, p. 37; 4.3, p. 64).

Without peace, resilience cannot be achieved; without resilience, there will be no end to hunger. Although this is widely recognized in the science-policy landscape, more solid, localized, and policy-relevant evidence on how climate security risks can arise in different geographical contexts and can contribute to instability is needed. The CGIAR Climate Security Observatory aims to fill this gap. Specifically, it aspires to help policymakers to reduce or avoid the risk of climate-driven insecurity by providing accessible and actionable knowledge at multiple scales. In the long term, this should contribute to the creation and maintenance of a “climate-resilient peace”.

The Climate Security Observatory is an online platform for stakeholder decision-making that provides access to a range of global, national, and sub-national climate and security-related analyses. Using the most state-of-the-art science on land, water, and food systems, the Climate Security Observatory helps to answer four questions: 

• How does climate exacerbate the root causes of conflict? 

• Where are the most vulnerable areas to climate-related insecurities and risks?

• Who are the groups vulnerable to climate and security risks that should be targeted?

• What needs to be done to break the vicious cycle between climate and conflict?

Objective

The objective of the event is to discuss how integrated approaches to qualify and quantify the climate security nexus can be leveraged to create a more seamless and responsive flow of information between the scientific community member states, and governments, ensuring that climate-related security risks are proactively addressed. It aims also to discuss how science, such as the one provided by the CGIAR Climate Security Observatory, can better, more effectively, and more timely inform the UN Security Council, member states, and other governments’ policies, programs, and investments to mitigate the impact of climate on peace and security and make climate adaptation an instrument for peace.