Mapping Tool Analyzes How Climate Change, Conflict and Aid Intersect in Africa

AUSTIN, Texas — Researchers have developed a new dynamic mapping tool that will help policymakers and other groups determine a country's vulnerabilities to climate change and conflicts and show how these two issues intersect in Africa. The pilot version of the tool was released this month by the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at The University of Texas at Austin and additional data tools are expected to come online starting this spring. "The complex pathways from climate change to security impacts have demanded new datasets to fill knowledge gaps, but also new ways of presenting the data to be of most use in policy planning," said Francis J. Gavin, director of the Strauss Center. "This mapping tool allows policymakers to analyze data from multiple sources at once, providing integrated analysis of the drivers and responses related to security risks stemming from climate change." The mapping tool, created by the center's program on Climate Change and African Political Stability (CCAPS) in partnership with AidData , allows researchers to select and layer any combination of CCAPS data onto one map to get a better view of the intersection of climate change and responses by local actors and aid organizations. The tool can help show how patterns of conflict could exacerbate insecurity caused by climate change in a region. It can also show how those dynamics are changing over time. Users can also see the location of aid projects funded by 27 donors tracked in Malawi's Aid Management Platform and discern if it is effectively targeting the regions where climate change poses the most significant risk to the sustainable development and political stability of a country.