Private Military Companies and the Climate-Security Nexus: A New Actor in Resource Conflicts?

Climate change is increasingly recognized as a threat multiplier, intensifying resource scarcity, displacement, and instability across vulnerable regions. These pressures create fertile ground for conflict, often over water, land, and other critical resources.

In this environment, Private Military Companies (PMCs) have become prominent actors. Operating in legal and regulatory gray zones, they protect resource-rich areas for states, corporations, or armed groups, but their activities frequently worsen governance challenges, human rights concerns, and environmental degradation. High-profile examples, such as the Wagner Group in Africa, highlight how PMCs can both provide security and deepen instability.

In this commentary, BIPSS Research Assistant Farhana Rashid examines the intersection of PMCs and the climate-security nexus, emphasizing their growing role in resource conflicts and underscoring the urgent need for stronger regulation, accountability, and integration of climate considerations into security policy.