Deutsche Welle published on 4 August 2026 an article titled "South Sudan: How Climate Change Can Turn Toxic" by Buster Emil Kirchner and Marco Simoncelli.
Devastating flooding in South Sudan's Unity State in 2021 continues to have negative impacts on the environment and the wellbeing of people living in the affected area. More than 50 of South Sudan's 400 oil wells remain submerged, which has contaminated water and farmland. This has led to a variety of health problems.
The Associated Press published on 12 August 2026 an article titled "Thousands Flee Yearslong Drought in Somalia as Hunger Deepens and Aid Shrinks" by Mohamed Sheikh Nor and Omar Faruk.
About two million people in southern Somalia are facing emergency levels of food insecurity as a result of drought over the past four years. EL Nino conditions are likely to exacerbate the situation by creating flooding during Somalia's October to December rainy season. International food assistance is in short supply.
The Conversation published on 16 July 2026 a discussion summary titled "Africa's Greater Horn Region Is Facing a Looming Polycrisis Fueled by Conflict, Prices, Climate and Disease" by Daniel Maxwell, Alex de Waal, Luka Kuol, Merry Fitzpatrick, and Peter Hailey.
The impacts of a strengthening El Nino and effects of the war in Iran combined with existing prolonged crisis and conflict in the Horn of Africa are leading potentially to a major, multicountry polycrisis.
The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies published on 15 April 2026 a paper titled "Instability in the Kenya-Somalia-Ethiopia Borderlands" by Christopher Hockey, Timothy Kimaiyo, and Martine Zeuthen.
The paper provides critical insights into the complex dynamics of instability in the Kenya-Somalia-Ethiopia borderlands. It highlights the interconnected challenges of violent extremism, gender-based violence, ethnic tensions, political instability and resource pressures, offering practical recommendations for future interventions.
The Heritage Institute for Policy Studies published in 2025 a study titled "From Risk to Response: Addressing the Climate-Conflict-Displacement Nexus."
Somalia consistently ranks among the world's most climate-vulnerable countries. Climate change is the primary driver of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the country. One in every 25 displaced individuals globally resides in Somalia. Climate-vulnerable states are also more likely to experience civil unrest and political instability.
Foreign Affairs published on 16 January 2026 an article titled "Less Foreign Aid, More Climate Risk: The Massive Costs of Gutting USAID" by Alice Hill and Lindsey Doyle.
Modest investment in USAID-financed climate-resilience projects has been gutted by the Trump administration. Slashing funding and decimating the institutions that deliver it is neither fiscal prudence nor putting America first.
The Norwegian Institute of International Affairs and SIPRI published in December 2025 a report titled "Abyei: Climate, Peace and Security Fact Sheet."
Abyei's contested status, its weak governance, and elite-driven politics continue to fuel insecurity. Increasing climate variability undermines food security and livelihood activities, particularly livestock and seasonal pastoralism. Intensifying seasonal hazards, such as floods, drive displacement and worsen the humanitarian crisis in Abyei.
The Heritage Institute for Policy Studies published in December 2025 a study titled "Building Resilient Cities: Environmental Protection and Construction Safety in Somalia's Urban Development" by Abdullahi Ali Mohamed.
The study highlights how unregulated construction, environmental degradation and intensifying climate shocks are reinforcing urban fragility amid weak institutional capacity. It outlines an integrated policy framework focused on sustainable urban planning, professionalizing the construction sector, and strengthening climate resilience.
Foreign Policy published on 4 December 2025 an article titled "Africa Was the Biggest Loser of China's COP30 Triumph" by Nathaniel Mong'are, speaker of Kenya's Young Parliamentarian Association.
Beijing, in the absence of the United States and wavering of the European Union, asserted leadership at the COP30 summit in Brazil, preserving the status quo for Big Oil, petrostates, and the world's largest emitters. While China, which produces a third of the world's emissions, was the summit's de facto climate champion, it received a positive reputation that it does not deserve. The losers were African countries whose mines and forests are experiencing environmental damage by Chinese extraction companies.
Stimson published on 20 November 2025 a commentary titled "Trump's Critical Minerals Search in Africa Won't Tip the Scales Against China" by Mathew Burrows and Benjamin Weise.
As the United States pulls back from Africa and narrows its interest to the extraction of critical minerals, China and Russia are expanding their engagement on the continent.
Deutsche Welle published on 25 November 2025 an article titled "How the EU Seeks to Counter China in Africa" by Katharina Kroll.
The African Union and the European Union held in Angola their seventh summit in late November. The underlying theme was competition with China and the EU's Global Gateway initiative as the response to China's Belt and Road Initiative.
The International Crisis Group published on 28 April 2025 a paper titled "The Stakes of Stripping Climate from UN Peacekeeping in South Sudan" by Nazanine Moshiri.
The UN Security Council will soon vote on the future of the peacekeeping mission in conflict-impacted South Sudan. The paper discusses what is at stake and why climate and peace should remain part of the mission's work.
The World Bank published in March 2025 a major report titled "South Sudan Economic Monitor: A Pathway to Overcome the Crisis."
South Sudan's socio-economic outcomes have worsened over the past decade due to recurrent conflicts, fragility, and macroeconomic mismanagement compounded by global economic and climate shocks. This dire situation is the result of: (1) nascent institutions and weak governance; (2) persistent mismanagement of the country's abundant natural capital, namely oil, and (3) recurrent community-level conflicts and violence that led to nationwide armed conflict in 2016 and localized ongoing conflict after the 2018 peace agreement.
South Sudan is now facing a severe crisis. The economy is projected to contract by 30 percent in fiscal year 2024/2025, marking the fifth consecutive year of negative growth. In fiscal year 2025, GDP per capita is estimated to decline to around half of the fiscal year 2020 levels.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute published in February 2025 a policy brief titled "Solar Power and Environmental Peacebuilding in South-Central Somalia" by Ann-Sophie Bohle and Kheira Tarif.
The policy brief explores how the International Organization for Migration's approach to solar power and the facilitation of local public-private partnerships can support environmental peacebuilding at three levels: the community level, the local business level, and the district council level.
The Atlantic Council published on 13 December 2024 a commentary titled "What Trump's Next Presidency Will Mean for Africa" by Rama Yade.
This analysis is less about what the Trump administration will do in Africa in a second term than what it did or did not do in the first term. The author argues, however, that Africa has more geopolitical interest for the United States today than it did during Trump's first term.
The International Crisis Group published on 10 December 2024 a study titled "Fighting Climate Change in Somalia's Conflict Zones."
Somalia experienced a prolonged, extreme drought between 2020 and 2023 that caused a humanitarian emergency and fueled conflict with the Islamist militant group al-Shabaab. Local resentment of the group's harsh methods during severe water shortages eventually led to a military offensive that put the insurgents on the back foot.
In Somalia, climate change and conflict are increasingly intertwined. Al-Shabaab uses access to water and other natural resources to levy taxes on herders and farmers, as well as to punish communities that resist its control. But it has also proven persuadable by social pressure during climate shocks.
Springer published in 2024 an open access book titled "China-Africa Science, Technology and Innovation Collaboration" edited by Mammo Muchie, Angathevar Baskaran, and Mingfeng Tang.
The book is based on papers presented at a conference with the same title sponsored by the Chinese embassy in South Africa. About half of the authors are Chinese. The preface comments that "Africa must also learn from the great success China has achieved. There is a lesson Africa must learn how China managed to deal with and respond to external powers."
The chapters cover the following sectors:
--China-Africa Collaboration to Higher Education.
--China-Africa Research Collaboration and Training.
--China-Africa Collaboration in Agriculture, Food Security and Environmental Management.
--China-Africa Collaboration in Telecommunications and Space.
--Evolution of China-Africa Collaboration in Science, Technology and Innovation.
--China-Africa Collaboration in Digital Technologies.
--China-Africa Collaboration in Finance and Renewable Energy.
--China-Africa Collaboration in Health Sector.
--China-Africa Collaboration in Manufacturing.
Boston University's Global Development Policy Center posted on 15 October 2024 an analysis titled "Back in Action: The Ninth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Sees Renewed Relations and Development Prospects" by Tianyi Wu.
This is an analysis of the recently completed 9th FOCAC held in Beijing. This iteration of FOCAC suggested that China seeks to adjust its approach to Africa by forging strategic partnerships, compartmentalizing financial tools for development projects, and aligning its engagement with regional multilateral initiatives.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute published in September 2024 a policy brief titled "From Conflict to Collaboration: Co-funding Environmental Peacebuilding in South-central Somalia" by Kheira Tarif.
The policy brief explores how the International Organization for Migration uses a co-funding mechanism for facilitating collaboration between groups in conflict on addressing shared local priorities in south-central Somalia.
The Conversation published on 10 September 2024 a commentary titled "South Sudan Floods: The First Example of a Mass Population Permanently Displaced by Climate Change?" by Liz Stephens, University of Reading, and Jacob Levi, Institute of International Health, Berlin University of Medicine.
Floods have engulfed much of South Sudan. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced from the Sudd due to flooding along the White Nile. The floods seem to be getting worse each year, raising concerns that many South Sudanese will be permanently displaced.
