Human security and mobility in the context of climate change in Africa

Abstract

Due to climate change, the decline in the African continent’s rich ecological biodiversity threatens increased food insecurity, mobility, millions of livelihoods, land conflicts, and zoonotic disease transmission that could lead to more pandemics. This climate change comes with human security and political and economic concerns. As it stands, attempts to stop all greenhouse gas emissions cannot relieve the pain inflicted by climate change. Accordingly, there is a need to direct attention to the inescapable consequences of climate change. The estimate that by 2050, about 200 million climate migrants will have been forcibly displaced worldwide, of which 86 million will be in Africa, is a cause for concern. By disconnecting security and migration, academics and peace and security practitioners must reframe their understanding of migration as a human security threat. Based on a systematic literature review, this study explores human security and mobility in Africa’s climate change context. It is argued that challenges from climate change, human activities and population pressure on land impacting land degradation are critical factors in increasing the risk of mobility and human security in Africa. These risks require anticipatory steps to overcome them. Hence, this study contributes to the risk assessment of mobility and human security by highlighting some indicators and distinguishing the incremental impacts of climate change while investigating opportunities to design adaptation actions for sustaining security and mobility. The study suggests that the human security approach should be integrated into the migration and climate migration policy frameworks, including efforts to promote a people-centred and more holistic approach to address human security. Even if climate migration presents a security issue, it does not necessarily threaten national security alone but human security. Options considering the complex and multifaceted nature of challenges to peoples’ well-being because of climate change and its related disasters across Africa are explored.