Climate & Peace Dispatch With Bridget Osakwe

Download the full Interview here.

Placeholder: The integration of Climate–Peace–Security (CPS) risks into programming has become central to the mandate of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP), reflecting the lived realities of communities across West Africa. Climate change is no longer experienced as episodic shocks but as persistent structural stressors, erratic rainfall and prolonged droughts in the Sahel, recurrent flooding in Nigeria and Cameroon, desertification, land degradation, and coastal ecosystem loss. These dynamics erode food security, disrupt livelihoods and mobility, and intensify competition over land and water, thereby heightening conflict risks.

WANEP has responded by embedding climate risk analysis into its early warning and response architecture. Climate indicators such as rainfall anomalies, pasture conditions, and water availability are now systematically integrated into conflict monitoring, community-based early warning systems, preventive diplomacy, and mediation efforts. Evidence shows that environmental stress signals frequently precede shifts in intercommunal relations.

Engagement with civil society, local authorities, and regional institutions further shapes this approach. Civil society actors emphasise governance failures, equity, and justice concerns, warning that poorly designed adaptation projects can exacerbate tensions. Local authorities highlight capacity gaps and limited coordination, often bearing responsibility for disputes without meaningful inclusion in national planning. At the regional level, institutions increasingly recognise climate change as a defining driver of instability across both Sahelian and coastal contexts.