Call for concept notes - Climate change, informal trade, and instability in conflict-affected borderlands 

The XCEPT Research Fund (XRF) is inviting applications for a 12-month project that will produce innovative, empirically grounded research examining the relationship between climate change, informal trade networks, and instability in conflict-affected borderlands, with a focus on the role of informal cross-border trade in the causal pathways linking climate stress to instability and conflict.

Building on the understanding that climate stress in conflict-affected borderlands - and the resulting increase in informal cross-border trade - can both amplify the agency of local communities as well as fuel instability, this Call for Concept Notes seeks to fund research that examines whether - and under what conditions - such trade networks support climate change adaptation and/or influence conflict. Concept notes should consider the following interlinked research questions:

1. How do communities in conflict-affected borderlands draw on informal, cross-border trade networks to adapt to climate extremes? 2. How are existing trade networks utilised or new ones formed? How effective are such networks as a form of climate change adaptation and resilience-building?

3. Under what conditions do such informal, cross-border trade networks fuel instability and conflict, and what are the implications for local communities and climate adaptation?

Funding support up to £120,000 is available per award, depending on the scope of the research and methods employed.

Applications are welcome from organisations only.

Interested applicants can read more about this opportunity here: https://www.xcept-research.org/grants_post/call-for-concept-notes-climate-change-informal-trade-and-instability-in-conflict-affected-borderlands/

The deadline for submission is Tuesday 16 September 2025 at 10:00 BST