Combating climate change is a priority to the nations of Africa, and U.S. officials are listening and responding to those concerns, said Maureen Farrell, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs at the Defense Writers Group, yesterday.
African nations see the effects of climate change daily with the desertification of the Sahel region, abnormally destructive storms, flooding and more. The average temperature in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa has increased each decade since 1971 and is expected to increase further. Djibouti, a country with a large U.S. military presence, is already one of the hottest countries on the planet.
“It’s an issue that our African colleagues raise to us repeatedly in almost every engagement we have overseas,” Farrell said.
The Defense Department is obviously aware of the problems caused by climate change and global warming, said Farrell. The U.S. military — not just the Marines — must be ready to operate in any “clime and place,” and American planners are working with African counterparts to learn new practices, techniques and procedures to operate in a changing climate.
“Our opportunities to engage in exchange overseas also help prepare U.S. strategic readiness and our interoperability with forces worldwide,” Farrell said. African nations have much to teach U.S. service members about operating in stressed environments.
Climate change is also exacerbating the threat environment worldwide, said Farrell. In Africa the changing climate drastically affects the strategic landscape. “The effects in the environment are tangible and measurable, and we see that it is creating conflict,” the deputy assistant secretary said.
African nations are sparring over water resources, arable land and more. Millions of African people are refugees from the effects of climate change and war. According to the United Nations, about 12 million people in Sudan are internal refugees with 1.2 million people having fled the country.
Climate stressors increase the potential for conflict, Farrell said. “Globally, there are a number of African conflicts that we could point to that are over water and land rights,” she said. “There is increasing tension over those kinds of resources. We’ve seen devastating floods in coastal West Africa.”
The historic drought in the Horn of Africa devastated five countries in the region.
“Candidly, these are environments where violent extremists can thrive,” she said. “When people, when families, when communities, reach a sense of desperation because of a lack of economic opportunity or agricultural failure or a lack of sustainable water sources, they are more easily lured by some of the offerings from violent extremists.”
“Climate-stressed areas are a recruiting opportunity for terrorist groups,” she said. Farrell noted that when previous droughts hit Somalia, the terror group al-Shabaab saw upticks in recruiting. This is directly tied to the lack of opportunities for the communities there.
“We also see an increase in climate-stressed areas in terms of conflict between pastoral and farmer herder communities over the water resources and agricultural lands,” she said.
“In almost all of the sub-regions of Africa, we have tensions over droughts, flooding and agricultural productivity,” she said. This leads to increased migration, and the European allies are feeling those pressures. “As people have fewer viable farming areas, we see population flows moving to where they can sustain themselves,” she said. “And this — in many cases — means moving north from the Sahel.”
DOD’s approach in Africa goes well beyond climate change. Environmental security includes climate change to be sure, but also includes ecological degradation, wildlife poaching and tracking, unreported and unregulated mining, unregulated fishing, illegal lumbering and more. All these undermine regional stability and security. “We seek to address them in a holistic manner, to address these challenges,” Farrell said. “We’re focused with our African partners on addressing their environmental and climate security concerns, and we’re integrating climate in how we engage with our partners on training, assistance, our key leader engagements, and then also looking at some of the innovative solutions that our partners are developing on the ground.”
The DOD approach is, of course, fully integrated with the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. This combination of diplomacy, development and defense looks to build resilience with the effort concentrated right now in Libya, Mozambique and a grouping of five coastal West African countries.
“Working with them, [we] have also learned about different ways to build in resiliencies into the force,” Farrell said. “Seeing the way our Kenyan colleagues operate in northeastern Kenya is very instructive for us as we operate in Djibouti and other places where [they] experience extraordinary drought.”
Increasing the resiliency and sustainability of African nations has long-term stability and security implications: They become more self-reliant and less dependent on outside aid, with all the baggage that brings with it.
“The department’s work in this space is fundamentally about understanding, preparing for and adapting to a changing strategic environment in which we cannot afford to fail,” Farrell said. “The consequences of inaction on climate will be severe, and our allies and partners will face growing security challenges as a result.”
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