A new report has warned that the depletion of natural resources will eventually lead to conflict, as the world continues to face the threats of climate change.
Food insecurity, a shortage of water, and the impact of natural catastrophes, along with rapid population increase, are fueling conflict and displacing people in vulnerable areas, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP).
Serge Stroobants, IEP director for Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, said the report identified 30 "hotspot" countries - home to 1.26 billion people - as facing the greatest threats.
This is based on three factors linked to resource shortages and five focusing on disasters such as floods, droughts, and rising temperatures.
"We don't even need climate change to see potential system collapse, just the impact of those eight ecological threats can lead to this - of course climate change is reinforcing it," Stroobants said.
In its "Ecological Threat Register," the IEP utilizes data from the United Nations and other sources to anticipate the countries and regions most at risk.
According to the report, Afghanistan's ongoing conflict has harmed its ability to deal with threats to water and food supply, climate change, and alternating floods and droughts.
In turn, conflict leads to additional resource deterioration. the report said.
Last year, six seminars attended by governments, military institutions, and development organizations concluded that "it is unlikely that the international community will reverse the vicious cycles in some parts of the world", the IEP said.
This is especially true in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, where conflicts have increased and gotten worse over the previous decade, the report said..
"With tensions already escalating, it can only be expected that climate change will have an amplifying effect on many of these issues," the report said.
In the face of a coming worldwide water crisis, improved water management, monitoring, and forecasting are required, according to a report released on Tuesday by the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and partners.
Floods, droughts, and other water-related disasters are becoming more common as a result of climate change, while the number of people experiencing "water stress" continues to climb due to population growth and declining supply.
