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8 - Governance and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Conflict-Affected Countries of Central Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 June 2021

Riyanti Djalante
Affiliation:
United Nations University, Tokyo
Bernd Siebenhüner
Affiliation:
Carl V. Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Germany
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Summary

Africa is expected to be more vulnerable to global environmental change due a complexity of factors. In some countries, weak governance institutions contribute to conflict, thereby increasing vulnerability to climate change, and limiting capacity to adapt and potentially benefit from external interventions.Through content analysis of publicly available documents, external interventions on climate change, particularly REDD+ initiatives, and how they interacted with governance processes were investigated in two conflict-affected countries of Central Africa. Results revealed that discussion of how conflict might impact REDD+ outcomes was limited. Concrete approaches to address the reality of civil conflict were not evident.Cross-cutting governance emphases are playing an important role in addressing some sources of conflict.With the complex interaction between climate change and conflict expected to increase, further research is needed to see how international institutions can better integrate climate change as a cross-cutting issue in all environment, development, and peacebuilding interventions.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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