As part of the efforts to strengthen community capacity to identify and respond to emerging climate-related security risks, a foundation – Peace Education and Practice Network (PEPNET), earlier in the week, trained community members in Mpape area of Abuja, on the nexus between climate change, human security and peace building.

The two-day Climate Peace Circle (CPC) training brought together residents, community leaders, government representatives, researchers and other stakeholders.
Organised under the CPC CLIMPSE Project with the theme, ‘A Community-Led Model for Climate Security Monitoring and Policy Action in Mpape, Abuja’, the exercise aimed at placing communities at the centre of efforts to understand impacts of climate change and develop practical responses to environmental and security challenges.

Speaking at the programme, PEPNET’s Executive Director, Amb Moses Abolade urged participants to take ownership of the initiative and ensure that knowledge gained during the training reaches other members of the communities.

He also encouraged participants to document their experiences and communicate the impact of the project within their communities.

The training appraised the growing implications of climate change for human security, with participants discussing challenges, including flooding, unsafe water supply, extreme heat, loss of livelihoods, resource scarcity, migration and displacement.

Facilitators noted that while climate change does not automatically cause conflict, environmental pressures can interact with existing social and economic vulnerabilities and contribute to tensions.
“For instance, the destruction of crops and livestock by flooding or desertification can result in livelihood losses while climate-induced migration may increase competition over land and other resources.”

Participants were consequently encouraged to strengthen community resilience and develop effective early-warning mechanisms capable of identifying emerging risks and supporting timely responses.

The training also examined the role of climate-sensitive peacebuilding in preventing environmental pressures from worsening existing tensions.

Facilitated by Dengiyefa Angalapu, the session on ‘Climate-Sensitive Peacebuilding’, emphasised the need for development and peacebuilding interventions to take both environmental and conflict risks into account.

Participants were encouraged to consider how development projects could unintentionally contribute to flooding, erosion, competition over resources or tensions between community groups if climate and conflict considerations are overlooked.

A session on ‘Community Climate Security Monitoring’, facilitated by Timothy Ogenyi, focused on enabling community members to identify emerging climate-related risks, document relevant information and communicate concerns to appropriate institutions.

The programme also provided participants with an opportunity to put their knowledge into practice as they were divided into four groups and tasked with identifying climate-security challenges affecting their communities, proposing mitigation measures and identifying the relevant government institutions responsible for addressing the issues.

The exercise reflected one of the central objectives of the CPC CLIMPSE Project – moving beyond awareness to community-based observation, documentation and action.

Participants emerged from the programme as Climate Peace Circle Champions, who are expected to remain engaged through subsequent CPC activities and continue sharing knowledge and identifying emerging climate-security concerns within their communities.

Subsequent phase of the project will focus on community climate-security observation, mapping and risk analysis. Meanwhile, information generated through the activities is expected to contribute to a Community Climate Security Policy Brief, linking community experiences with relevant policymakers and institutions.

The project is also expected to strengthen collaboration between communities and government institutions.

Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) including the Ministry of Environment, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER) as well as Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) participated in the exercise.

The involvement of government and research institutions provided an opportunity for community experiences to be considered alongside institutional and technical perspectives.

The organisers also highlighted the role of the media in extending the conversation beyond the training venue, describing them as an important platform for public education, amplifying community voices and encouraging wider conversations around climate, peace and security.

Some of the take aways from the training include the need to recognise climate change as a human security and peacebuilding concern, strengthen early-warning and monitoring systems, involve communities in climate adaptation and mitigation as well as ensure that development interventions are both climate-sensitive and conflict-sensitive.

For PEPNET, the Mpape experience in demonstrates the potential of community-led approaches to climate security as it provided a foundation for continued collaboration among residents, institutions and other stakeholders.

According to the organisers, CPC conversation continues as communities move from knowledge to collaboration, action and resilience.