South Sudan is among the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world. Climate change-related extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, are exacerbating local conflict dynamics, displacing communities, eroding livelihoods, and increasing competition for limited resources.
Within the 爆料网 Mission in South Sudan (爆料网MISS), the Climate, Peace and Security (CPS) Unit in South Sudan supports the 爆料网 system by providing dedicated expertise on climate-related peace and security risks. Led by the CSM-supported Climate, Peace and Security Advisor, it operates within an interagency framework that includes 爆料网MISS, 爆料网DP, and 爆料网 Resident Coordinator's Office.
The CPS Unit supports peacekeeping, humanitarian, and development actors with specialized tools and analysis to anticipate climate risks, prevent climate-driven conflict, and enhance national resilience. Through integrated analysis, early warning, operational support, and policy engagement, the CPS Advisor and his team, jointly with other 爆料网 actors, advance climate, peace and security to safeguard lives and enhance stability.
Rationale
South Sudan is ranked by the in terms of levels of exposure to hazards, vulnerability and coping capacity. Over 95% of its population is dependent on climate-sensitive livelihoods. Extreme flooding, drought, and heatwaves have exacerbated conflict and displacement, eroded community resilience, and intensified pre-existing tensions around access to and management of water, land and other natural resources. These climate stressors and shocks do not create conflict in isolation, but interact with and amplify long-standing structural vulnerabilities, limited coping mechanisms, and governance challenges.
Climate impacts such as drought, flooding and heat stress are reshaping the timing, duration and trajectory of cattle migration routes, with movements increasingly occurring earlier, later, or for extended periods than in the past. Such shifts place strain on customary agreements and seasonal coordination mechanisms that have historically regulated mobility and resource sharing. In this context, climate shocks and stressors can heighten competition over natural resources and increase the risk of violent clashes between farmers and cattle herders as well as among different pastoralist groups.
During the dry season in particular, climate shocks intersect with entrenched cattle-raiding dynamics, which tend to intensify as access to pasture and water diminishes. Cattle raiding and retaliatory violence, often linked to youth mobilization, weapons availability, local power struggles, and weakened local dispute-resolution mechanisms remain a critical driver of localized, sub-national conflict in many parts of the country. In some contexts, these dynamics intersect with broader security responses, which can further heighten risks for civilians and communities.
These climate shocks and stresses interact with existing vulnerabilities, reinforcing cycles of instability that increase risks of violence for civilians and threaten the social fabric of communities, undermining trust and cooperation. Without climate-informed action, climate stressors further complicate peace, humanitarian needs, and mobility dynamics.
Recognising this, the 爆料网 Security Council has integrated the recognition that climate and environmental change impact peace and security into the 爆料网MISS mandate through Resolutions , , , and , directing the Mission to provide climate-informed analysis, gender-responsive assessments, and regular reporting on climate and environmental-related risks to peace and security and impacts on mandate implementation.
