Livelihood Security: Climate change, conflict and migration in - UNEP

(discussed in Box 7). In 2010 alone, the European
Union’s financial aid for the Sahel was €74 million,
of which a large part was directed towards food
assistance.
In addition to helping to prioritize funding decisions,
conflict and migration considerations can inform
adaptation policy development and lead to more
concrete programming. The uncertainty over climate
models and future environmental changes
has meant that many adaptation policies have
been designed to accommodate as broad a
range of scenarios as possible. With stronger data
on local-level conflicts and migration, the focus
can be sharpened.
For example, this report has highlighted increasingly
permanent migration to urban centres, coastal
areas and some inland lake areas by farmers,
herders and fishermen. These migration destinations
require priority adaptation action over the arid
northern parts of the region that have experienced
a decline in population. Conversely, the arid northern
areas may be targeted for adaptation projects
to improve agricultural opportunities and slow the
rate of migration to cities and coastal areas that
lack the capacity to provide adequate conditions
and services for the migrants.
5.3 Capitalizing on conflict
and migration management to
strengthen adaptation
Given the transboundary nature of many climaterelated
challenges, regional cooperation is critical
to adaptation planning. Where appropriate,
existing regional structures with conflict prevention
and migration management mandates can help
improve regional cooperation for adaptation
policy-making and implementation. In addition,
regional platforms addressing disaster risk reduction,
as outlined in Box 8, also provide appropriate fora
for considering conflict and migration in adaptation
planning. In other words, building on existing capacity
for conflict and migration management – rather
than setting up parallel structures – can strengthen
adaptation capacity and improve efficiency, which
is important in light of the capacity constraints of
many countries in the region.
Livelihood Security: Climate Change, Migration and Conflict in the Sahel
Box 7 . The Great Green Wall Initiative for the
Sahara and the Sahel
The CEN-SAD (Community of Sahel-Saharan
States) Summit of Leaders and Heads of State
adopted the Great Green Wall initiative as one
of its priority programmes in 2005. The project
envisages a belt of trees that would be 15 km
wide and 7,775 km long, stretching from the
Atlantic coast to the Indian Ocean across 11
countries. The initiative, aimed at halting the
advance of the Sahara Desert, was slow to start
due to a lack of funding. The project has since
slightly changed its approach, focusing more
holistically on integrated natural resource management,
and is now backed by the African
Union. The Global Environment Facility (GEF)
has also pledged funds to support the initiative.
Box 8 . Integrating climate change adaptation
and disaster risk reduction strategies
The Bali Action Plan of the UNFCCC calls for
greater integration between climate change
adaptation and disaster risk reduction strategies.
At the regional and continental levels, the
number of disaster risk reduction policies and
plans has been steadily increasing in Africa.
The African Union Commission has supported
the Africa Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk
Reduction, as part of the New Partnership for
Africa’s Development. This regional strategy recognizes
the importance of coordination across
agencies for proactive disaster prevention and
response strategies. In West Africa, ECOWAS
adopted a policy for disaster risk reduction in
2007, recognizing the role that climate change
can play in triggering disasters, including floods
and droughts. The policy provides strategic
guidance for member States, and facilitates
the implementation of sub-regional strategies
and programmes that are in line with the Africa
Regional Strategy.
This inclusion of migration and conflict sensitivity
in adaptation governance is already occurring
in some organizations in the region. The ECOWAS
mandate, for example, includes the promotion of
improved resource management in conflict prevention
strategies. The organization is also working
on adaptation strategies to address the impact of
climate change on agriculture, water resources and
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