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”.
“The future depends on us, not the climate,” said Dr.
Climate change is the most significant planetary crisis of the modern era. It is a uniquely multidimensional and intersectional phenomenon, altering the biophysical environment in tremendous ways. Its global scale, variable impact, and long-term effects make it nothing less than an existential threat.
This year’s Munich Security Conference was dominated by the current build-up of forces at the Ukrainian border and European security architecture. Nevertheless, the climate crisis as a challenge to security occupied a central role at the conference, which took place from February 18-20, 2022.
Climate change is a national security threat to Europe. It is an accelerator of conflict and requires European forces to adapt accordingly. Concurrently, armed forces can help mitigate climate change by reducing their greenhouse-gas emissions. For states that plan to reduce carbon emissions, decarbonisation of armed forces without disarming will be a challenge. This new report assesses not only the implications for European armed forces of operating in climate changed worlds, but also the opportunities for reducing carbon footprint from new technologies.
Military and civil conflicts could intensify along the Bay of Bengal coastline, fuelled by climate change-linked migration, land loss and displacement, researchers said on Tuesday.
The area is seeing frequent extreme weather, which combined with its strategic, social and economic fault-lines, makes it "fertile ground" for social friction and violence, they warned.
The summer of 2021 saw record low levels of rainfall and a sharp decline in water flow into the Euphrates and other rivers in northeast Syria. In a new report entitled, ‘We fear more war, we fear more drought’, PAX has conducted dozens of interviews with pastoralists, farmers, and local authorities, combining this with satellite analysis and humanitarian data.
A recent report published by the Climate Security & Peace Project (CS2P) and the Climate, Energy & Security Program of IRIS highlights the downside of biodiversity conservation in the protected areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The country is part of the 17 megadiverse countries in the world with more than half its territory covered by dense forests. Drawing on data from the Virunga National Park, the author shows how the militarization of biodiversity protection is threatening the security and rights of local communities.
Traditionally, defence establishments have been hesitant to include climate change on the security agenda. Being focused on national security, the militaries have put a blind eye to their colossal fuel consumption. Militaries have largely been exempted from national requirements to cut emissions. Similarly, environmental activists, analysts and researchers paid little attention to military emissions, also reluctantly approaching military practices.
Militaries are some of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases, but their emissions have received limited attention amidst the global decarbonisation movement. One organisation that is trying to put military emissions on the agenda is the Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS). CEOBS collects data on the emissions by militaries around the world and hopes to put military emissions on the table at COP27.
