Climate change and its associated impacts can worsen security challenges, including those associated with violent extremism.
This is particularly the case in areas that are both vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and characterised by social and political instability.
In north-eastern Kenya, for instance, droughts, flooding and livelihood destruction are unfolding alongside, and worsening, activity by al-Shabaab, a terrorist network headquartered in Somalia. The terror group has evolved from carrying out large-scale attacks in Kenya, such as the Westgate Mall attack (in 2013) and the Garissa University attack (2015), to persistent, low-intensity attacks and broader community engagement in the border region.
