COP29: The ICRC’s call to implement ambitious mitigation measures and scale up climate action in conflict settings

The international community has committed to provide support to countries that are highly vulnerable to climate change. More than half of the countries considered most vulnerable and least ready to adapt to climate change are countries enduring armed conflict. This is not because climate change directly causes conflict. Rather, conflict increases the fragility of institutions, essential services, infrastructure, governance and other capacities that are critical to help people cope with and adapt to a changing climate.

The COP28 Declaration on Climate, Relief, Recovery and Peace was an important milestone in that it explicitly recognized that more must be done to address the high vulnerability of countries enduring conflict. This recognition should be taken further by introducing related language into formal COP outcome documents. Doing so would not mean creating a new category: most countries enduring conflict are also among the world’s least developed countries (ND-GAIN, 2023), a category already identified by the UNFCCC as requiring particular support to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. Formal recognition of the challenges faced by countries enduring armed conflict would allow for a greater focus on pathways to address their specific needs and ensure that sufficient, urgent climate action is taken in such places.

Furthermore, to ensure that communities are sufficiently supported to adapt to a changing climate, it is also important to acknowledge in formal COP outcome documents that conflict and fragility are drivers of individual and community-wide vulnerability. Doing so would support efforts to reach and support communities living in unstable environments.