On October 6 the Berlin Climate Security Conference (BCSC) will take place in Germany. The event, which is organized by the German Federal Foreign Office and the German think-tank adelphi, serves as a meeting ground for policy makers, decision makers, (climate) scientists and other important stakeholders. Its aim is to promote, coordinate and advance concrete climate security approaches and initiatives to drive action and implementation efforts.
Since its inaugural edition in 2019, the BCSC has become the global forum connecting important stakeholders working to better address the impacts of climate change on international peace and security through diplomacy, development and defense approaches.
This fifth edition of the BCSC is entitled Building a Climate for Peace and will convene policy makers, decision makers, and climate security experts from across the world. With no time to lose to accelerate climate action ahead of COP28, the conference will focus on three strategic goals to ensure that climate action and sustainable peace go hand in hand:
- Solutions for fragile contexts: Identifying ways to promote more accessible and conflict sensitive climate solutions (including finance) for fragile and conflict-affected communities in the lead up to COP 28 and beyond;
- Tools and knowledge: Spotlighting tools, resources, and capacities to advance integration of climate and conflict sensitive analysis and policies into operations and programming on the ground;
- Incentives: Connecting people, knowledge and ideas across sectors, regions and disciplines to strengthen synergies between mutual and multilateral approaches and initiatives.
The event will host a number of contributors, among which the Wilson Center, the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS) and The Clingendael Institute. During panel discussions, roundtables and keynote talks, the attendees will discuss a variety of climate security topics such as food security and defense perspectives on climate and security. A final working group dinner which focuses on Migration is hosted by adelphi, the German Council on Foreign Relations, and the Bosch foundation.
Last year, the BCSC led to the development of the Climate for Peace Initiative, a multilateral initiative which aims to promote the active exchange of information, experience and best practices. In addition, it strives to coordinate available resources and needs to administer a platform for joint projects and lessons learnt that can advance efficiency and effectiveness of existing activities while also enabling new ones. The initiative was spearheaded by the German government and the G7.
On Tuesday, October 3rd, PSI will host a roundtable on Climate Security with its partner IPCS. The roundtable will seek to address climate security concerns in the Bay of Bengal. At the BCSC the Planetary Security Initiative and IPCS will build on the knowledge gained by hosting a roundtable discussion titled 'Security implications of climate change: perspectives from the Bay of Bengal'.
The Bay of Bengal is one of the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world. It also is confronted with significant strategic, political, social and economic fault lines. Together, they can create conditions for volatile security dynamics, social friction and conflict. The partnership between Clingendael and IPCS has been addressing climate-security topics in the bay of Bengal, convening a diverse group of regional experts since 2021. At this BCSC session, IPCS & Clingendael experts will share the project's findings, focusing on two fundamental questions:
1. What does 'climate security' mean to the Bay of Bengal?
2. Could 'climate security' approaches be beneficial for the region?
You can find the preliminary agenda of the BCSC 2023 here. The main schedule of the conference is by invitation only. However, there will also be virtual sessions, which are open to the public, later in October.
On October 16th, you can join the session ‘Ensuring conflict sensitivity in the Loss and Damage Fund’ between 11:00 – 13:00 CET.