In current debates about climate change, the environment is often seen as a potential cause of violent conflicts. According to this view, environmental degradation will significantly increase the stress put on various societies, particularly in so-called weak and fragile states, and thereby cause political destabilisation and violence while jeopardising national and international security. Drawing on research conducted within the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South programme, this article shows that establishing such direct causal links is simplistic and reductionist.