Climate Change
Following the Decision by the Fifteenth Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs that took place on 16 October 2016 in Antananarivo, Madagascar that “Urged Member States to strengthen their engagement with the COMESA Secretariat on climate change to address issues with potential to generate conflict”, the GPS Unit has prioritised climate security in its programming. The GPS unit has focused on knowledge production with an interest on enhancing and harnessing collective initiatives and efforts in addressing the security threats linked to climate change. The programme seeks to strengthen regional, national and local understanding, implementation and coordination of climate security strategies. Five regional studies have been conducted as follows:
- Northern Cluster: Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia
- Southern: Eswatini, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
- Horn: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Sudan
- Islands: Comoros, Mauritius, Madagascar, and Seychelles
- Tropics: DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda
The studies highlight the various climatic issues in the different ecological zones and brings out how various sectors of the population are impacted including the adaptation mechanisms. The regional cluster reports have been synthesised, resulting in a consolidated regional study report. The synthesised report reflects the Programmatic Action Plan (PAP) to operationalise the recommendations gleaned from the regional cluster reports. The PAP highlights resilience and adaptation mechanisms to climate change and brings out responsibilities of various stakeholders in the various clusters to strengthen mitigation measures. The synthesised report also highlights best practices that peacebuilding entities including government agencies, civil society, development agencies, and local authorities can apply in addressing, mitigating and resolving climate change-induced conflicts in the region.