The literature indicates that, in all three countries, climate change is a threat- and vulnerability-multiplier. Though the effects of climate change on marginalised groups can be direct and immediate (for example, livelihoods assets being destroyed by floods and droughts), the literature also indicates that indirect effects can be just as potent (for example, being forced to seek out more dangerous forms of labour when goods essential for practising a livelihood become unavailable or prohibitively expensive due to climate change). A second major finding is that in all three countries, social, economic, political, and institutional (SEPI) barriers exacerbate marginalised communities’ exposure to climate change, and vice versa, underlining that humanitarian actors can only address social exclusion by also considering climate change. As such, this literature review represents a call to action for livelihoods actors to mainstream matters of climate change throughout their programming, and where they wish to address root causes, to also be climate responsive.
This report is an edited version of a literature review conducted by students studying in an MSc programme within the International Development Department at the London School of Economics. The lead authors and researchers are: Emma Bungerfeldt; Fatimata Djibrine; Cassandra Jordan; Jose Luis Ortega; Alessio Ricoveri; Teresa Vereterra. All lead authors and researchers developed this literature review during a pro bono consultancy for War Child Alliance.
