NORCAP expert Yohannes Hagos Subagadis currently works in South Sudan as a disaster risk reduction specialist on issues like climate change adaptation, building resilience, and making development more sustainable over time. NORCAP, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s expert deployment capacity, aims to improve international and local capacity to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from crises.

While conflict-induced displacement is the more-reported (and more widely-known) form of displacement in South Sudan, Subagadis says climate challenges do have a significant impact on displacement.

“Poor living conditions and economic opportunities as a result of climate change, coupled with conflict, are pushing people to move to other parts of a country or abroad. Even though well-researched links between climate change and displacement have yet to be established, there are clear indications that climate-related disasters frequently are followed by slow-onset or rapid onset displacement both nationally and across international borders. This type of displacement must be addressed, both within the affected nations and through regional and international initiatives”, he stresses.

Image: Kuay Makuach, a farmer in Lankien, South Sudan | Image Credit: Oxfam East Africa