Sudan Faces Climate Change Damage Amid Continuing War, Environmental Priority Urged

Sudan is facing severe environmental challenges amid climate change and the continuing war, with the conflict damaging infrastructure, ecosystems, vegetation, and soil.

“War, environmental degradation, and climate change are increasing pressure on natural resources and livelihoods”

Dabanga Radio TV Online

The situation has highlighted the need to treat environmental issues as a strategic national priority, with the concerns coinciding with World Environment Day on 5 June.

Dabanga Radio TV Online

Journalist and environmental affairs specialist Sari Naqd told Radio Dabanga that environmental and climate change issues in Sudan are often treated through a traditional lens as secondary concerns.

Naqd said there was a paradox in limited public engagement with environmental issues in Sudanese society, where they are often viewed as a luxury concern or an issue for developed countries.

He attributed the gap to weak public awareness and criticised academic and media institutions for failing to give the subject sufficient attention despite Sudan being among the countries most affected by climate change globally.

Naqd pointed to the latest report by the University of Notre Dame in the United States, which publishes an annual index measuring countries’ vulnerability to climate change.

He said the index covers 186 countries and ranks Sudan fourth in the world in terms of negative impacts from climate change.

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“In other words, out of 186 countries we rank fourth in terms of inability to withstand and adapt to climate change. That is a very alarming figure,” Naqd said.

Naqd said the index is based on a range of highly sensitive indicators, including the degradation of agricultural land and the shrinking of vegetation cover in favour of arid land and desertification.

He argued that climate change has a major impact on soil moisture, leading to the expansion of dry areas and the reduction of plant cover, with direct implications for national security, particularly food security.

Naqd described competition over resources as a driver of conflict, citing the conflict in Darfur in 2003 that began between pastoralists and farmers.

“Pour déterminer le niveau de pauvreté de ces pays, on utilise le plus fréquemment le PIB (produit intérieur brut) par habitant en parité du pouvoir d’achat (PPA)”

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He said a number of international institutions had described it as the first climate war of the 21st century because it was rooted in competition over resources affected by climate change.

Naqd added that the University of Notre Dame report also considered factors such as flooding, pointing to repeated floods that have affected Sudan in recent years including those in 2024 and 2025.

He said flooding creates conditions conducive to the spread of diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and cholera, and that these outbreaks form part of the substantial losses suffered by Sudan estimated to amount to billions of dollars.

He also cited an African Development Bank statement in a 2021 report that Sudan needed around $2.5bn annually to strengthen its resilience and capacity to adapt to climate change.