The project was envisioned to strengthen the capacity in Nepal to identify environment and climate change-related security risks at community, national and global levels, and establish suitable risk reduction and response measures.
Climate change exacerbates enormous pressure on social, economic, political and natural resources of a country. Regions that are environmentally vulnerable and crisis affected are most susceptive to being overwhelmed by security risks posed by climate change. Insecurity has seemed to hinder climate change adaptation efforts, leaving already vulnerable communities poorer and less resilient to interlined climate and security crises, additionally peacebuilding and stabilization efforts seem to have overlooked these impacts.
To investigate and address these issues, the European Union (EU) and United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) have established a partnership on climate and security. The program aims to develop an integrated approach to climate-conflict analysis and deliver actions on the ground to address compound-conflict risks. Two pilot interventions were designed and delivered in Sudan and Nepal as a solution to these climate-related security risks.
In Nepal, climate change is acting as a stressor on the existing drivers and structural causes of conflict, adding an additional layer of risk that exacerbates the challenges of livelihood insecurity, resource and identity conflicts and institutional reform. The assessment recognised the new constitution and federalist reform as an opportunity for addressing climate-related security risks and enhancing the inclusion of marginalised groups in all levels of decision-making.
Some of the key problems in these fragile states of Nepal are:
- Lack of expertise at national level to identify, plan for, and respond to environmental and climate security risk
- Lack of knowledge at community level to design resilient livelihoods for environmental and climate security risks
- Lack of access to data and analysis that can identify and predict emerging environmental and climate security hotspots
- Institutional fragmentation leads to dispersed knowledge and to lack of uptake in conflict prevention and peacebuilding strategies
- Structural barriers preventing women from formally managing natural resources and engaging in risk reduction measure on environment and climate security
The key solutions implemented in the local-level intervention in Karnali River Basin in Western Nepal, as well as complementary actions at the global level, are:
- Guidance and support for multi-stakeholder decision making
- Field demonstration projects by local communities
- Global level hotspot monitoring and predictive analytics based on best available data
- Global and regional analysis conducted jointly by UNEP and UN partners in the field which feeds into UN planning
- Guidance and field projects on environmental and climate entry points for empowering women in peace-building
Evidence from the pilot intervention reflects that the project's contribution to conflict prevention and peacebuilding in target communities, while at the national level, early indications point to improvements in planning for and responding to climate-related security risks. Globally, the project has contributed to shaping the emerging policy agenda on climate-security through strategic engagement with key entities and enhanced system-wide capacity for understanding, identifying, and addressing climate-related security risks.

Photo: Vegetable farm_Banuram Chaudhary, Bangaun, Tikapur_Vegetable farmer under CCFP.

Photo: Santoshi Tharu, Chakhhapur, Rajapur Municipality involving in mushrooming farming under CCFP.

Photo: Advanced sweing cutting training _Tikapur under CCFP.