Peace and conflict in South Asia have traditionally been underpinned by three regional realities: internal issues of civil war and ethno-religious violence and separatism, military conflict between India and Pakistan, and political conflicts between India and the smaller states of Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, writes researcher and policy analyst MS Huda.
Climate change has the potential to put tremendous pressure on all of these vulnerabilities. South Asia is one of the most critically placed regions in the world, projected to experience the brunt of the planet’s environmental breakdown. Almost 700 million people have already been affected by at least one climate-related disaster in the last decade. Climate, while not the primary driver of conflict, exacerbates pre-existent socio-political and economic contexts that ignite conflict. As researchers Femia and Werrell write, “Climate change, by compromising a state’s ability to provide basic resources to its population, can significantly erode its output legitimacy.” They point out that such erosion can contribute to fragility and state failure, which, in turn, has implications for regional and international security.