Faced with the horror of genocide, we struggle to learn its lessons - to discover how to make the unfulfilled promise of "never again" a reality. In Darfur, even as we strive to bring an end to the human tragedy, we must also look to the future, renewing our commitment to prevent more such atrocities. We now know that making this commitment requires making another -- committing to prevent dangerous climate change, and committing to help the most vulnerable people and societies to cope with its effects.

The roots of the conflict in Darfur are complex, but climate change clearly played a role in triggering and exacerbating the violence. A new study by the UN Environmental Programme found that failing rains, drought and desertification increased pressure on already scarce resources, helping to push this fragile society past its breaking point. The same study warned that:

"Sudan is unlikely to see a lasting peace unless widespread and rapidly accelerating environmental degradation is urgently addressed." (UNEP)

The desert in northern Sudan has spread by 60 miles over the past 40 years and rainfall has dropped by nearly a third. Unchecked climate change will result in additional temperature rises of between 0.5C and 1.5C by mid-century, which speeding up desertification, intensifying drought, and leading to a fall in crop yields of 70%.

Unless we take immediate, effective action to curb climate change, the environmental degradation will jeopardize hopes for peace in Darfur, and threaten to spark conflict across the region.

"Darfur is just an early warning," Muawia Shaddad of the Sudan Environment Conservation Society told the Washington Post . If this tragedy is a warning, let it be heeded, and let us act now, in the spirit of our promise.

-Becca