This Knowledge Hub for Locally Led Action on Climate, Peace and Security is designed to help communities identify and implement “innovative solutions to address the climate crisis, protect the most vulnerable, tackle the differentiated impacts on women and men and promote climate justice” (the UN’s New Agenda for Peace, July 2023). The Hub hosts a range of resources created by and related to the EU-UNEP Partnership on Climate Change, Environment, Peace & Security.

Climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and the depletion of natural resources are widely recognised as risks to international stability, peace and security. Climate change and environmental degradation, in particular, directly alter the carrying capacity, productivity, and ecological resilience of the ecosystems upon which societies depend for their livelihoods, food, and raw materials, which in turn can exacerbate existing social and economic drivers of conflict. Addressing escalating climate- and natural resource-related challenges requires coordinated policy and practical interventions. Interventions need to be guided by solid environmental data and monitoring; by an understanding of regional governance and security trends; and by knowledge of best-practice environmental solutions, including the sustainable resource-sharing and peacebuilding opportunities that such solutions may offer.

The framework of Locally Led Action on Climate, Peace and Security builds on Community Environmental Action Planning (CEAP, a participatory approach for use in rural contexts developed by UNEP and its partners), extending CEAP and related efforts through the creation and inclusion of additional tools.

Participation is a core component of good governance, at any scale. In addition to giving people greater agency over their own lives, participation helps build a fuller picture of human-environment interactions, contributing knowledge and perspectives that ensure projects will be as multi-dimensional, impactful, and sustainable as possible. Participation is a meaningful, practical way to navigate the web-like complexities of the Climate-Peace-Security nexus. Locally led action allows community members to voice their perspectives and concerns, learn from each other, and shape interventions. By doing so, it builds greater buy-in for programmatic interventions. Through participatory processes, parallel issues that may otherwise have been neglected – for example, pre-existing grievances, ongoing resource stressors faced by some communities but not all, and informal projects that aren’t widely known – can be identified and incorporated into planning.

Learn more in the Action Toolkit and via the glossary.

Disclaimer: The resources, tools, and materials presented in this Knowledge Hub have been curated from a range of organisations and initiatives. While they have been selected for their relevance to specific aspects of climate security, conflict prevention and conflict sensitivity, their inclusion does not imply endorsement by UNEP or the European Union. The EU-UNEP Partnership is not responsible for the content of external sources, and users are encouraged to apply their own judgment in interpreting and adapting these materials.