Much has been written and said about the consequences of climate change on security in the West African Sahel. Sceptics argue that claims about the links between global warming and conflict dynamics rest on limited evidence and questionable assumptions. Others work on the institutionalization and operationalization of climate security. This implementation seems inevitable, if slow, difficult, and at times vague, as there is simply no consensus on what climate security implies in practice and what it is meant to achieve. What is climate security, and whose climate security are we talking about? This article analyses climate security as a structure of knowledge and a set of epistemic relationships that inform practices and relationships. It draws on participant observations of a Dakar-based research group that travelled to Bamako, Ouagadougou, and Niamey. At the intersection of research, policy, and programme implementation, this case study provides a unique look into the emergence of climate security relations and practices. The findings point to the rising structural force of climate security and how it can overcome both research uncertainties and sensitive diplomatic relations. The article shows that there is more to climate security than the focus on the conflict-climate nexus lets on.

中文翻译：

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西非萨赫勒地区气候安全期货的生产


关于气候变化对西非萨赫勒地区安全的影响，人们已经写了很多文章，也说了很多。怀疑论者认为，关于全球变暖与冲突动态之间联系的说法是建立在有限的证据和可疑的假设之上的。其他人则致力于气候安全的制度化和操作化。这种实施似乎是不可避免的，尽管缓慢、困难，有时甚至含糊不清，因为对于气候安全在实践中意味着什么以及它意味着什么，根本没有达成共识。什么是气候安全，我们在谈论谁的气候安全？本文将气候安全分析为一种知识结构和一组为实践和关系提供信息的认识关系。它借鉴了达喀尔研究小组对巴马科、瓦加杜古和尼亚美的参与者观察。在研究、政策和计划实施的交叉点上，本案例研究为气候安全关系和实践的出现提供了独特的视角。研究结果指出了气候安全结构性力量的崛起，以及它如何克服研究不确定性和敏感的外交关系。文章表明，气候安全远不止关注冲突与气候的关系。