Climate Change and VIolence in Post-Conflict Colombia

Abstract

The aim is to explain the link between climate-related issues and violent patterns in Colombia after the2016 peace agreements. The main premise is that the effects of an erratic climate has an indirect butrelevant influence in the emergence of new forms of violence. In other words, the climatic change andenvironmental degradation act as a “stressor” in different forms of violence in this commodity-basedeconomy recovering from more than 50 years of internal armed conflict. The qualitative approach isbased on semi-structured interviews with government representatives and academics to track different perspectives. It is argued that key environmental and climate-related issues in new forms of conflict after the peace deal are linked to the fragmentary distribution and control of land, the ongoing forced migration patterns, and expansion of a new and more lucrative illicit economy.