The production of climate security futures in the West African Sahel

Abstract

Much has been written and said about the consequences of climate change on security in the West African Sahel. Sceptics argue that claims about the links between global warming and conflict dynamics rest on limited evidence and questionable assumptions. Others work on the institutionalization and operationalization of climate security. This implementation seems inevitable, if slow, difficult, and at times vague, as there is simply no consensus on what climate security implies in practice and what it is meant to achieve. What is climate security, and whose climate security are we talking about? This article analyses climate security as a structure of knowledge and a set of epistemic relationships that inform practices and relationships. It draws on participant observations of a Dakar-based research group that travelled to Bamako, Ouagadougou, and Niamey. At the intersection of research, policy, and programme implementation, this case study provides a unique look into the emergence of climate security relations and practices. The findings point to the rising structural force of climate security and how it can overcome both research uncertainties and sensitive diplomatic relations. The article shows that there is more to climate security than the focus on the conflict-climate nexus lets on.