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Ambitious Climate Action means building a Climate for Peace

10/18/2024

No longer can we turn a blind eye to the fact that the climate crisis is destroying livelihoods by increasing draughts, floods and extreme weather. It is immensely expensive and it kills. The sea-level rise threatens coastal areas, large cities and small islands in their very existence.  

The climate crisis increases land degradation, water scarcity and food insecurity. All these factors can weaken social cohesion, governance and thus stability. They contribute to conflict and exacerbate inequality, poverty, migration and displacement. 

With its first ever National Security Strategy and the Climate Foreign Policy Strategy, Germany addresses these complex climate security correlations. The AU, UN, EU, NATO, IGAD, OSCE, PIF and many other regional and national security organizations have long since incorporated climate risks in their strategies and operations. 

At this year’s Berlin Climate and Security Conference, policy makers, practitioners and scientists discussed security implications caused by climate change, showcasing models for risk analysis and anticipatory action. The challenges of deep nexus problems, such as climate, peace, security and development were summarized in closing remarks: “Everything is connected to Everything”. This is why answers to climate and security challenges must be connected and integrated too.

Thus, the panels and breakout sessions focused on integrated approaches in all phases of the conflict – or peace – cycle: From climate risk in formed security planning to crisis management, peace building and stabilization. Participants zoomed in on food insecurity, human mobility and geopolitical shifts, among other topics. A spotlight session on the UN Security Council emphasized the need to broaden the Council’s focus from traditional security issues and to recognize climate change as a core security threat. 

Because fighting climate change means more than reducing temperatures and extreme weather events. It means preventing conflict, instability, suffering and displacement. To do so, we must integrate climate considerations into our Humanitarian Aid, our Peacekeeping Efforts and our overall Security Policies. 

Who says security must say climate! If elected to the Security Council for 2027/28, Germany will tackle the existential threat of the climate crisis and its effects on peace and security to strengthen capacities for environmental peacebuilding.

Highlights

  • The Berlin Climate and Security Conference brought together policy makers, practitioners and scientists to discuss security implications caused by climate change, showcasing models for risk analysis and anticipatory action.

  • If elected to the Security Council for 2027/28, Germany will tackle the existential threat of the climate crisis and its effects on peace and security to strengthen capacities for environmental peacebuilding.

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Annalena Baerbock (Buendnis 90/Die Gruenen), Federal Foreign Minister, picture taken at Berlin Climate and Security Conference in Berlin, 08.10.2024.
Copyright: Florian Gaertner/ Photothek
Jennifer Morgan, State Secretary and Special Envoy for International Climate Action, picture taken at Berlin Climate and Security Conference in Berlin, 08.10.2024.
Copyright: Florian Gaertner/ Photothek
Audience members at Berlin Climate and Security Conference in Berlin, 08.10.2024.
Copyright: Florian Gaertner/ Photothek
Jennifer Morgan, State Secretary and Special Envoy for International Climate Action, on stage with the moderator at the Berlin Climate and Security Conference.
Copyright: Florian Gaertner/ Photothek