For two weeks, world attention is focused on the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow. There, international leaders and concerned citizens are gathering to accelerate actions towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change as tackling and adapting to climate change is the biggest challenge of the next decade.

The socioeconomic and political implications of the climate crisis is no more apparent than in countries in eastern and central Africa where their effects are felt and seen in prolonged extreme weather conditions, higher temperatures, longer cycles of drought, water shortages and cyclones. As the populations of these countries are predominantly rural and dependent on agriculture and pastoralism, climate change poses a serious threat to the lives and livelihoods of millions of people, with the potential to aggravate existing drivers of conflict. In East, West and the Horn of Africa, climate change is a risk multiplier.

As part of a series of forums to mark RVI’s 20th anniversary, the Rift Valley Forum will host a webinar on 11 November to explore the environmental, economic, social and political consequences of climate change on countries and peoples of this region.

Register for the event here