Global climate policy and natural resources conflicts in East Africa
In a rapidly changing global order, Africa can no longer be understood as peripheral to international politics. Rather, it emerges as a crucial site where local dynamics and transnational processes intersect, overlap, and mutually reshape one another. This seminar series foregrounds the concept of agency to explore how political, social, and economic actors across the continent actively produce and navigate these local–transnational entanglements.
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Abstract
This session explores how global climate policy responding to the global climate challenge affects people and communities in East Africa, drawing on recent examples where climate-related investments in energy production, climate-resilient infrastructure and conservation have contributed to local conflict situations. The session focuses on the tensions and trade-offs between global and climate policy objectives and local resources-based livelihoods, emphasizing the role of formal and informal rights to use land and forest resources in polycentric governance systems.