6 December 2011: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP), in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the United Nations University (UNU) and the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), has released a report titled “Livelihood Security: Climate Change, Migration and Conflict in the Sahel.” The project aimed to analyze the historical climate trends in the region, identify “hotspots” and determine the implications of climate change on natural resource-led livelihoods in the Sahel.The report identifies 19 “climate hotspots” where climatic changes have been the most severe. Several of the identified hotspots that have been most impacted by flooding, are located in the central part of the Sahel, in Niger, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria.

The report’s recommendations include: adopting migration and conflict-sensitive adaptation policies, in order to mitigate the drivers of migration and conflict and help secure development gains; promoting regional environmental cooperation in addressing climate change, migration and conflict; rooting national adaptation policies in the Green Economy and promoting the creation of green jobs and sustainable farming practices; strengthening preventive action, including environmental diplomacy, resource rights and dispute resolution; and using conflict and/or migration risk to prioritize investments and build donor commitment to long-term engagement in the Sahel. [UNEP Press Release] [Publication: Livelihood Security: Climate Change, Migration and Conflict in the Sahel]