Climate change driving Darfur crisis: Sarkozy

AFP

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday said the war in Darfur had been sparked in part by climate change, and warned global warming could lead to “dozens” more conflicts.

In a speech at a major conference in Paris, Sarkozy said the conflict in Darfur resulted from “an explosive mixture” in which climate change had affected agriculture, forcing a migratory wave that had then helped to unleash war.

“Climate change is already having a considerable impact on security,” Sarkozy said.

“If we keep going down this path, climate change will encourage the immigration of people with nothing towards areas where the population do have something, and the Darfur crisis will be only one crisis among dozens of others.”

Sarkozy made the warning to ministers from 16 economies that together account for 80 percent of the world’s emissions of greenhouse gases.

Nearly five years old, the war in Darfur has claimed more than 200,000 lives from fighting, famine and disease and 2.2 million others have been left homeless.

The conflict began when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated regime and state-backed Arab militia, fighting for resources and power in one of the most remote and deprived places on earth.