Between the 16th and 18th of February 2024, the international community’s most prominent figures in the field of defence and security will gather in Munich for the 60th Munich Security Conference to “debate on the world’s most pressing security challenges”. Within the overarching aim of building peace through dialogue, one of the crucial topics that will be addressed are the security implications of climate change.
Perspectives from a Regional Working Group on Climate Change, the Environment, Peace and Security in Latin America
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is a region of unparalleled ecological diversity, encompassing tropical rainforests, arid deserts, and expansive coastlines, making it particularly susceptible to the far-reaching impacts of climate change and environmental degradation. Beyond its diverse and unique natural landscapes, Latin America faces a complex web of climatic and environmental challenges that transcend national borders.
Climate and security risks are compounding in Yemen, impacting its population clearly and directly, but also through less visible, indirect effects. While violent conflict, at both the national and local levels, is likely to continue in the near future, the effects of climate change are projected to grow more pronounced over time. Problems including rising temperatures, rainfall variability, desertification, and vanishing water reserves are all set to intensify, exacerbating both the drivers and the effects of the conflict on the population.
While green innovations could play a pivotal role in the EU’s defence sector, the two have so far hardly been connected.
The EU institutions are working hard to come up with new communications on the upcoming European Defence Industrial Strategy and a 2040 emission reduction target, just before EU politicians head into elections in June.
India’s perspectives on climate security are usually characterized by its positions on the issue in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). However, the Indian narratives on climate security are shaped by multiple factors - both at the international and domestic level. While India has so far opposed the introduction of climate change in the UNSC agenda, there have been sporadic attempts to include climate change in the domestic security agenda.
On 30 January 2024, NATO hosted its annual Climate Change and Security Roundtable in Brussels. This event brought together government representatives from NATO member and partner countries, as well as renowned climate change experts and scientists to discuss the latest developments in our understanding of the impact of climate change on security.
On 28 November, PSI spoke to Catherine Wong, who serves as global team leader for Climate and Security Risk and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). We learned about her personal motivations and the tangible approaches implemented to reduce the negative security impacts of climate change.
The following text is an excerpt from an event summary by the Center for Climate and Security. This report was written by Siena Cicarelli, Patricia Parera, and Ethan Wong, and edited by Tom Ellison and Francesco Femia. This report summarizes the third roundtable in the series, Climate Change, Geopolitics, and Food Security: Implications for Europe, the United States, and Multilateralism, held in Brussels and virtually on 13 November 2023.
This summer the 3rd iteration of the International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding will be hosted in the Hague. It will be hosted jointly by the Environmental Peacebuilding Association (EnPAx) and the Grotius Center for International Legal Studies at Leiden University. It will contain both a virtual and physical element with the virtual day scheduled for June 12. The physical begins on June 18 and will last until June 21. It includes training courses, business meetings, side events, and site visits.
The following text is the executive summary from the full report by The Berghof Foundation and PEACE Paradigms.
