Climate change, water shortages and resource scarcity are driving increased conflict and hunger
The triple threat of climate change, conflict and hunger is deepening already complex humanitarian crises.
Released to mark World Earth Day, the report, Triple Threat: Climate change, conflict and hunger endangering children’s lives, draws on interviews and focus groups with more than 3,700 people living in some of the world’s most fragile environments.
The results indicate that climate-driven disasters such as drought, floods, and heatwaves are intensifying resource scarcity and social tensions, triggering displacement and worsening hunger and conflict.
World Vision New Zealand National Director, Grant Bayldon, says 2024 was the hottest on record and World Vision’s report findings serve as a wake-up call.
“This report sends the clear message that climate-related resource scarcity will lead to a less secure and stable world.
“When communities struggle to access the basics, such as food, water and shelter, tensions rise and can easily spill over into full-blown conflict. Our report finds that nearly two-thirds of people say climate shocks directly lead to more conflict in their communities.
“We need to hear their voices and take action to address not only the root cause of the changing climate, but to address the intersecting humanitarian disasters that it leads to and compounds,” he says.
Bayldon says it’s particularly alarming that communities in Afghanistan and Syria report near-universal experiences of drought and water scarcity which have aggravated local conflicts.
World Vision’s Senior Director for Disaster Management, Amanda Rives, says as always children bear the greatest burden.
“The combined effects of violence, climate change and hunger are intersecting in alarming ways, trapping vulnerable children and their families in a vicious cycle. We need urgent, coordinated global action to prevent millions more from slipping into devastating cycles of hunger and conflict.”
The report highlights severe underfunding for climate adaptation in conflict-affected countries, with nations like Somalia receiving less than 1% of the climate financing required.
This leaves the most vulnerable communities unable to cope with increasingly severe climate impacts.
Bayldon says record-breaking temperatures and other warning signs of a warming climate come as the world appears to have taken a step back from a commitment to global aid.
“We are now seeing rates of hunger higher than they were in 2015 when the United Nations launched the Sustainable Development Goals and yet this year we’re seeing numerous countries reduce their commitment to foreign aid and climate finance.
“As we mark Earth Day, this report is a sobering reminder that climate change is not just an environmental issue—it’s a human crisis impacting lives, livelihoods, and futures.
“It’s imperative, now more than ever, that the international community steps up to protect the world’s most vulnerable from these preventable tragedies with integrated long-term solutions that address not only climate change, but also conflict, hunger and human rights,” Bayldon says.
New Zealanders wanting to support those affected by climate change in fragile environments can do so here.
- World Vision survey finds nearly 90% of those living in fragile environments say climate change is a serious threat to their communities.
- Around two-thirds say climate shocks have caused more conflict in their communities. In Syria and Afghanistan, the figure was above 90%. In Papua New Guinea it was 71%.
- Nearly two-thirds of respondents say climate change leads to displacement and cite environmental pressures as driving migration and tensions.
Released to mark World Earth Day, the report, Triple Threat: Climate change, conflict and hunger endangering children’s lives, draws on interviews and focus groups with more than 3,700 people living in some of the world’s most fragile environments.
The results indicate that climate-driven disasters such as drought, floods, and heatwaves are intensifying resource scarcity and social tensions, triggering displacement and worsening hunger and conflict.
World Vision New Zealand National Director, Grant Bayldon, says 2024 was the hottest on record and World Vision’s report findings serve as a wake-up call.
“This report sends the clear message that climate-related resource scarcity will lead to a less secure and stable world.
“When communities struggle to access the basics, such as food, water and shelter, tensions rise and can easily spill over into full-blown conflict. Our report finds that nearly two-thirds of people say climate shocks directly lead to more conflict in their communities.
“We need to hear their voices and take action to address not only the root cause of the changing climate, but to address the intersecting humanitarian disasters that it leads to and compounds,” he says.
Bayldon says it’s particularly alarming that communities in Afghanistan and Syria report near-universal experiences of drought and water scarcity which have aggravated local conflicts.
World Vision’s Senior Director for Disaster Management, Amanda Rives, says as always children bear the greatest burden.
“The combined effects of violence, climate change and hunger are intersecting in alarming ways, trapping vulnerable children and their families in a vicious cycle. We need urgent, coordinated global action to prevent millions more from slipping into devastating cycles of hunger and conflict.”
The report highlights severe underfunding for climate adaptation in conflict-affected countries, with nations like Somalia receiving less than 1% of the climate financing required.
This leaves the most vulnerable communities unable to cope with increasingly severe climate impacts.
Bayldon says record-breaking temperatures and other warning signs of a warming climate come as the world appears to have taken a step back from a commitment to global aid.
“We are now seeing rates of hunger higher than they were in 2015 when the United Nations launched the Sustainable Development Goals and yet this year we’re seeing numerous countries reduce their commitment to foreign aid and climate finance.
“As we mark Earth Day, this report is a sobering reminder that climate change is not just an environmental issue—it’s a human crisis impacting lives, livelihoods, and futures.
“It’s imperative, now more than ever, that the international community steps up to protect the world’s most vulnerable from these preventable tragedies with integrated long-term solutions that address not only climate change, but also conflict, hunger and human rights,” Bayldon says.
New Zealanders wanting to support those affected by climate change in fragile environments can do so here.