Conciliation Resources
Climate Champions for Peace in Kashmir
The Climate Champions project will empower marginalised Kashmiri communities—especially women and youth—to lead local climate action and nature-based solutions, strengthening resilience, improving policy engagement, and fostering trust and peace.
Project information
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Focus area
The Climate Champions project will empower marginalised Kashmiri communities—especially women and youth—to lead local climate action and nature-based solutions, strengthening resilience, improving policy engagement, and fostering trust and peace.
The Kashmir region is marked by long-standing conflicts between India and Pakistan, resulting in political instability, militarization, and limited human rights for the local population. In addition, the region is highly vulnerable to increasing climate change, with heatwaves, droughts, and floods threatening agriculture, water supply, and biodiversity. Climate change exacerbates existing tensions by intensifying competition over natural resources and complicating coordination, which undermines trust and opportunities for cooperation. Initiatives focusing on climate adaptation can help create better conditions to address climate challenges while also promoting peace by providing a neutral entry point for dialogue and collaboration within local communities.
In this project, Conciliation Resources aims to train women and youth in Kashmir to become climate champions, thereby strengthening local communities’ resilience to climate change while simultaneously contributing to improved conditions for cooperation and peace in the region.
What happens in the project?
- Train young people and women to become so-called Climate Champions.
- The Climate Champions will lead local initiatives for climate adaptation and nature-based solutions, while also promoting inclusion and dialogue with authorities.
- Workshops will be conducted, led by the Climate Champions, where civil society actors and local government representatives meet to discuss initiatives for climate resilience.
- Bring together individuals from both India and Pakistan in digital networks to explore how they can jointly address climate change and exchange ideas and knowledge with each other.
- Develop a learning product.
Why is the project supported?
By strengthening community capacity and creating local initiatives for climate adaptation in conflict-affected areas, the project contributes to increased resilience, a stronger civil society, and more peaceful communities.