Giulia Caroli

This article examines how religio-cultural values influence the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of local communities in the face of climate-change-induced security risks through a case study of vulnerable communities in northern Mozambique. These risks encompass various forms of suffering, displacement, and violence related to climatic stressors. While traditional approaches to climate change impacts often prioritize economic and technological solutions, this study argues for the inclusion of religio-cultural values in climate security discourse. Using a values-based analytical framework and ethnographic and participatory research methods, the article investigates how religio-cultural values shape community responses to climate change and related security risks in two communities in Nampula District. The research highlights that techno-scientific interventions, when not aligned with local values, can exacerbate conflicts and undermine the effectiveness of climate adaptation strategies. It further demonstrates the potential for peace and stability that can be achieved by integrating local religio-cultural values into climate policies and practices.

International, regional, and national organizations, alongside policymakers, are increasingly acknowledging the crucial connection between climate, peace, and security. However, there remains a notable gap in research methodologies capable of fully grasping the intricate dynamics of this relationship. This paper introduces the Integrated Climate Security Framework (ICSF), a comprehensive mixed-methods approach designed to unravel the complexities of climate-human security-conflict connections across various scales. By integrating traditional and innovative research methods, the ICSF aims to provide cutting-edge, policy-relevant insights to address five main measurement challenges of the climate security nexus: multiple pathways; context specificity; non-linearity; multiple actors and scales, and multiple geographic and time scales. By drawing on diverse epistemological perspectives and engaging directly with local communities, the framework offers a comprehensive evaluation of the complex social-ecological dynamics at play. Using Kenya as a case study—a country where climate and security risks frequently intersect and amplify each other—we demonstrate the comprehensive insights the framework offers to address the complex challenges at the nexus of climate, human security, and conflict.

This article explores the impact of climate-related security risks on community values and how that impact influences responses to the risks. Research and practice have paid little attention to how non-material and subjective conditions, especially values, mediate the climate-security nexus. We focused on the impact of land conflicts and food insecurity (as examples of climate-related security risks) on community values through a study of two rural communities in Zambia’s southern province using impact rating, focus-group discussions (FGD s), and interviews. Innovatively, we began by identifying community values and asking about the impact of climate security risks on community values instead of what ‘experts’ perceive or consider to be risks. We found that, firstly, participants from both communities perceived both land conflicts and food insecurity as having a strong to very strong influence on their values. Secondly, women perceive the impact of land conflicts and food insecurity on values to be greater than men do. Thirdly, the perception of the impact of climate-related security risks on values is prevalent among communities in Zambia’s southern province. The article concludes that values are crucial and central determinants in how communities interpret and respond to climate-related security risks, as well as how they engage with food, land, and water systems. It recommends that policymakers and practitioners integrate community values for effective and sustainable climate-related security risk policies and interventions.