The Impact of Climate Change on Economic Security in the Great Lakes Region: the Case of Kenya 2010-2020

Abstract

The world today is more vulnerable to environmental risks than it was two hundred years ago. Increasing evidence points to the fact that the planet has been moving from the safe operating space and it is now at a global crisis point. Manifesting this through floods, droughts and other climate extremes, we are now more than ever at a risk of crossing tipping points that shift the planet to a potentially catastrophic breakdown. While much research has been published about climate change science, not much has been published about the relationship between climate change and their implications to society and especially in developing countries. This study analyzed the impact of climate change on economic security in the great lakes region with a view to increase the understanding of this interaction. This research draws from a collection of societal aspects that were formerly ignored such as the environment, the economy, the military and the political environment. The main argument this study made is that the planetary boundaries that allowed and supported humanity and the biomes are all deeply connected. However, some are core boundaries that heavily impact on other aspects of planetary success and sustainability such that when one boundary is crossed, it generates tipping points that heavily amplify other societal risks that have serious existential implications. Climate and biodiversity are core boundaries and using global warming and erratic rainfall as key variables that I used to measure the correlation between climate boundaries and the economic aspect of security, this research has found that human activities and natural processes have heavily burdened these planetary boundaries to a great extent with irrefutably negative consequences.