The Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region experience a disproportionate burden of climate change despite contributing minimally to global greenhouse gas emissions. Severe and recurring drought, irregular rainfall patterns, flash flooding, land degradation, and accelerating desertification are undermining agricultural and pastoral livelihoods, depleting water sources, and driving displacement on a scale that existing governance systems and humanitarian frameworks struggle to manage. These environmental stresses interact with political fragility, armed conflict, inequitable resource governance, and institutional capacity deficits to produce compound and cascading risks.

The Climate Adaptation and Security Program (CASP) examines climate adaptation as a strategic security imperative, recognising that the failure to address climate-driven vulnerability will compound conflict risk, undermine governance, and erode the foundations of regional stability. CASP generates research and policy guidance that integrates climate adaptation planning with conflict analysis, peacebuilding frameworks, and governance reform, ensuring that responses to environmental stress are not only technically sound but politically feasible and conflict-sensitive.