Profiles of Adaptation: Somalia

This fact sheet describes Somalia's extreme vulnerability to climate change, characterized by severe droughts and famine, and outlines the government's institutional and policy efforts to build resilience despite ongoing civil conflict and financial constraints.

• Somalia is ranked as the second most climate-vulnerable country globally by the ND-GAIN index, despite contributing less than 0.03% of total global greenhouse gas emissions, estimated at approximately 53.70 MtCO2.
• The country is facing its most severe drought in 40 years, which saw four consecutive rainy seasons fail in 2022. This crisis displaced 7.8 million people and led to warnings in February 2023 that deaths could exceed the 260,000 lives lost during the 2011 famine.
• Somalia has established a policy framework for adaptation, prioritizing agriculture and food security, water resources management and public health, and disaster preparedness and management for the period 2021-2030. This includes the 2021 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and the development of a National Adaptation Plan (NAP).
• In August 2022, the government created the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MoECC) to lead sustainable development and climate resilience. The ministry coordinates vertically with five federal states and horizontally across sectors such as livestock, finance, and energy.
• Implementation of climate adaptation is hindered by financial constraints, lack of institutional coordination, and a three-decade internal conflict with Al-Shabaab. Security risks prevent government officials from accessing certain regions to install adaptation infrastructure like water catchments.

APA

World Resources Institute (2023). Profiles of Adaptation: Somalia. https://www.wri.org/update/profiles-adaptation-somalia

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Profiles of Adaptation: Somalia. 2023. https://www.wri.org/update/profiles-adaptation-somalia.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Profiles of Adaptation: Somalia |date=18 April 2023 |url=https://www.wri.org/update/profiles-adaptation-somalia |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2023profiles, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Profiles of Adaptation: Somalia}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2023}, month = apr, url = {https://www.wri.org/update/profiles-adaptation-somalia}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }