On 9 March 2022, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) convened a ministerial-level Arria-formula meeting on climate finance in the United Nations ECOSOC chamber. Titled “Climate Finance for Sustaining Peace and Security”, the discussion provided a new angle on the climate-security nexus. Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine loomed over the discussions, with a majority of speakers explicitly condemning Russia’s actions as an “unjustified and unprovoked invasion”.
Adding finance to the climate-security agenda
Addressing the climate-security nexus through the lens of climate finance, the UAE aimed to facilitate a discussion on aligning climate finance and conflict prevention strategies, as well as coordinating climate and security actors.
The discussion was the first council meeting on climate change after Russia vetoed a draft resolution on climate security in December 2021. The move was repeatedly criticized by members on Wednesday.
Chairman Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change and Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology opened the meeting by emphasizing that “climate finance is one of the most important tools to manage climate risks”. As many other speakers, he cited the recent IPCC report, highlighting its findings that climate impacts “are likely to drive significant displacement and competition over resources and, if not addressed, could be the source of many future conflicts”.
The need for increased and gender-responsive climate finance
Contributing a civil-society perspective from Nigeria, Nafisah Abubakar made clear in her briefing statement that while climate policies already exist, “what we need is increased climate financing”. Citing widespread climate-induced conflicts in her country, she also called for sensitizing people on the ground and including them in solutions.
The urgent need to fulfil climate finance commitments was echoed by many member states, including Chet Greene, Foreign Minister of Antigua and Barbuda and chair of the Alliance of Small Island States. As various other members, he criticized that “the promise by developed countries to provide USD 100 billion has not been fulfilled”, reminding members of their pledges in the Paris agreement and at COP26.
Several member states highlighted the importance of women’s participation in climate financing processes as well as implementing gender-responsive finance. Disproportionate climate effects on women, as well as their capacity as actors of change were repeatedly highlighted by the speakers.
Ghana also emphasized the urgent need of conflict-prone countries for climate finance, urging for a conflict-sensitive approach.
What’s ahead for climate finance
Some dissension remains around aligning climate finance and conflict prevention, with strong reservations about a joint discussion being voiced by Brazil, China, and India. India’s ambassador criticized developed countries' shortcomings in climate finance and cautioned against “getting side-tracked under the guise of security”. Yet, a majority of members expressed the necessity of climate finance as a means of promoting global security. Especially calling on the responsibilities of developed countries, a full implementation of climate finance commitments under previous international agreements was demanded by most speakers on Wednesday.
Read our previous coverage on the UNSC open debate on climate security in September 2021.