The endorsement of resilience strategies by the EU Global Strategy (2016) and the European External Action Service (2017) has fostered a “pragmatic” approach concerned with the promotion of locally driven peacebuilding activities. Concurrently, resilience terminology is becoming increasingly significant in the climate policy area, since it is specially geared towards capacity building in communities vulnerable to the harmful effects of climate change. However, the implementation of resilience strategies in the EU peacebuilding has hitherto only engendered lacklustre results, as little attention has been given to the social and environmental outcomes of resilience in local contexts. In that view, the aim of this research is to answer the question “how can the EU foster the promotion of climate-resilient strategies in peacebuilding interventions?”. It is argued that resilience, as currently implemented by the EU, fails to engage with the grassroots level of local communities, therefore hindering the construction of a climate-resilient peace. In light of the above, this research will seek to explore the institutional implications of the resilience turn in the EU peacebuilding, tackle the limitations surrounding the EU’s operationalization of climate-resilient strategies and highlight promising aspects leading towards more fruitful, locally driven, climate-resilient practices.
Keywords: Climate Change, EU, Peacebuilding, Resilience.
Fábio Reis | Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Portugal
Fábio Reis is currently a PhD Candidate in International Politics and Conflict Resolution at the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra. He holds a Master’s Degree in Peace and Security Studies by the University of Coimbra. Following his research on Humanitarian Norms, the Responsibility to Protect and the “Local Turn” in Peacebuilding, Fábio’s research is currently focused on the implications of Climate Change for Peacebuilding interventions, most notably on the operationalization of Environmental Peacebuilding.