MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) 鈥� Droughts, flooding and a shrinking Lake Chad caused in part by climate change is fueling conflict and migration in the region and needs to be better addressed, a report said Thursday.
Human rights group Refugees International called for the issue to be central to a high-level international conference on the Lake Chad basin next week in Niamey, Niger's capital.
The report found that shrinking natural resources due to adverse weather are heightening tensions across communities and displacing people. It said that around 3 million people have been displaced and an additional 11 million were in need of humanitarian assistance.
鈥淔or too long, insufficient attention has been paid to how climate change fuels violence and displacement," report lead author Alexandra Lamarche told The Associated Press. "International responses to the Lake Chad basin crisis have singularly focused on the presence of armed groups.鈥�
A 13-year insurgency of the Boko Haram extremist group and other militant groups have destabilized the Lake Chad basin and the wider Sahel region. The basin is shared between Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.
The Lake Chad region is facing 鈥渕uch more than a climate and ecological crisis,鈥� said Mabingue Ngom, the senior advisor to the executive director of the United Nations population agency. "It is a humanitarian issue touching on peace and regional development.鈥�
The United Nations weather agency warned that Lake Chad basin 鈥渋s particularly vulnerable to climate change related extreme events such as floods and droughts鈥� and issued alerts that 鈥渆xtreme events will likely become more abundant causing more frequent droughts and flooding with impacts on food security and general security in the region.鈥�
Lamarche noted that the Logone Birni commune in northern Cameroon was particularly vulnerable to increasing violence as climate change worsens.
鈥淔ighting over access to natural resources (in Logone Birni) forced 60,000 people to seek refuge in neighboring Chad in late 2021,鈥� Lamarche said.
The Lake Chad basin in west and central Africa covers 8% of the African continent and is home to 42 million people whose livelihoods revolve around pastoralism, fishing and farming, according to figures from the Lake Chad Basin Commission.
The U.N. environment agency notes that Lake Chad has shrunk 90% in 60 years, which climate change a significant contributor. Irrigation, the construction of dams and population increase were also to blame.
A provisional agenda of next week's summit seen by The Associated Press suggests that the 鈥渁dverse impacts of climate change鈥� will feature as part of peacebuilding and humanitarian efforts.
Lamarche said the conference is 鈥渢he perfect opportunity for international donors to commit to long-term solutions to address the nexus between climate change, violence, and displacement in the region.鈥�
The meeting in Niamey will be the third high-level summit on the lake鈥檚 basin.
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Wanjohi Kabukuru, The Associated Press
