Climate Change, Conflict, and Faith: How Religious Institutions Respond to Political Instability in Vulnerable Regions

Joseph O. Ige PhD

doi:10.56201/jhsp.vol.12.no2.2026.pg155.164

📄 Download Paper

Climate Change, Conflict, and Faith: How Religious Institutions Respond to Political Instability in Vulnerable Regions

Joseph O. Ige PhD

Abstract

Global warming only makes political instability and social tensions in the vulnerable areas worse, as environmental stressors (drought, floods, and scarcity of resources) collide with ineffective governance systems. This paper analyzes how religious institutions have been involved to address the issue of conflict and political instability caused by climate. Based on a multidisciplinary literature review and case studies of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the study sheds light on the role of faith-based organizations and religious leaders in humanitarian relief, peacebuilding, and resiliency of communities. The analysis reveals some of the main processes by which religious institutions help to resolve the conflict, promote social cohesion, and adopt locally adapted climate resilience measures. The results show that although faith- based actors can have special legitimacy and access to influential groups of communities of interest, they may vary in effectiveness based on the influence of institutional capacity, interfaith relations, and socio-political limitations. The research concludes that the incorporation of religious institutions into the climate change adaptation and conflict prevention strategies improves human security and sustainable development. This study adds to the further explanations of the overlaps between climate change, conflict and faith, providing insights to the several people who are interested in creating resilient communities in political and climatologically vulnerable areas, policymakers, humanitarian organisations and scholars.

Keywords

Climate changePolitical instabilityreligious institutionsFaith-based peacebuildingVulnerable regionsHuman securityCommunity resilience

References

Adan, M. Y. (2025). Human security under climate stress: Environmental peacebuilding pathways in Somalia. Frontiers in Political Science, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2025.1708512 Barnett, J., & Adger, W. N. (2007). Climate change, human security and violent conflict. Political Geography, 26(6), 639–655. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2007.03.003 Burke, M., Hsiang, S. M., & Miguel, E. (2015). Climate and conflict. Annual Review of Economics, 7, 577–617. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-080614-115430 Christiansen, S. M. (2016). Climate conflicts: A case of international environmental and humanitarian law. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27945-9 Haynes, J. (2014). Faith-based organizations at the United Nations. Global Governance, 20(3), 379–396. https://doi.org/10.1163/19426720-02003004\ Ide, T., Schilling, J., Link, J., Scheffran, J., Ngaruiya, G., & Weinzierl, T. (2014). On exposure, vulnerability and violence. Political Geography, 43, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2014.10.007 International Affairs. (2024). Climate change and peacebuilding: Sub-themes of an emerging research agenda. International Affairs, 100(3), 1111–1130. https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiae057 Irvin-Erickson, D., & Phan, P. C. (Eds.). (2016). Violence, religion, and peacemaking. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56851-9 Mercy Corps. (2023). How can peacebuilding contribute to climate resilience? Evidence from the drylands of East and West Africa. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 63, 101315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2023.101315 Osman, H. A. (2023). The role of humanitarian-development-peace nexus in addressing protracted environmental conflicts in Somalia. Journal of International Relations and Policy, 1(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.47941/jirp.1361

Climate Change, Conflict, and Faith: How Religious Institutions Respond to Political Instability in Vulnerable Regions

Abstract

Keywords

References

More Articles from JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL POLICY