United Nations Security Council

09/23/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/23/2021 11:13

Security Council: Open Debate on Climate and Security

Note: A complete summary of today's Security Council meeting will be made available after its conclusion.

Briefings

ANTÓNIO GUTERRES, Secretary‑General of the United Nations, recalled that in August the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a "deeply alarming report" showing that climate disruption caused by human activities is widespread and intensifying. "The report is indeed a code red for humanity," he said, urging much bolder climate action ahead of the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, in Glasgow, in order to ensure the maintenance of international peace and security. "Our window of opportunity to prevent the worst climate impacts is rapidly closing," he warned, emphasizing that no region of the world is immune from the wildfires, flooding, droughts and other extreme events already impacting every continent.

Stressing that the effects of climate change are particularly profound when they overlap with fragility and past or current conflicts, he described both climate change and environmental mismanagement as risk multipliers. "Where coping capacities are limited and there is high dependence on shrinking natural resources and ecosystem services, such as water and fertile land, grievances and tensions can explode, complicating efforts to prevent conflict and to sustain peace," he said. In Somalia, for example, more frequent and intense droughts and floods are undermining food security, increasing competition over scarce resources and exacerbating existing tensions from which the Al‑Shabaab terrorist group benefits, he noted. In the Middle East and North Africa - among the world's most water‑stressed and climate‑vulnerable regions - a major decline in precipitation and a rise in extreme weather events is harming water and food security, he added.

In 2020, more than 30 million people were displaced by climate‑related disasters, he recalled. Ninety per cent of refugees come from countries that are among the most vulnerable and least able to adapt to the effects of climate change, and many are in turn hosted by countries also suffering from its impacts, he said. Meanwhile, the devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic continues to undermine the ability of Governments to respond to climate disasters and build resilience. However, it is not yet too late to act, he said, calling for "unambiguous commitment and credible actions" by all countries to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and avert the most catastrophic impacts of climate change.

Spotlighting three "absolute priorities", he urged all nations to show greater ambition in their nationally determined contributions by the time COP26 begins, and to translate their commitments into concrete and immediate action. Collectively, the world requires a 45 per cent cut in emissions by 2030, he said. Secondly, he underlined the need to deal with the already dire impacts of climate disruption on the lives and livelihoods of people all over the world, calling, in particular, for a "breakthrough on adaptation and resilience". At least 50 per cent of climate finance globally must be committed to resilience and adaptation, he emphasized, adding that huge gaps remain in adaptation finance for developing countries.

In that context, he called upon developed countries to uphold their promise to deliver, before COP26, $100 billion in climate finance annually to the developing world, and to ensure those funds reach the most affected populations. Grant financing is essential, as loans will add to already crushing debt burdens in the most climate‑vulnerable countries, he noted. As a third priority, he said climate adaptation and peacebuilding can and should reinforce each other. Listing several successful examples, he also spotlighted the crucial role of women and girls as agents of change in those efforts, noting that their meaningful participation and leadership brings more sustainable results that benefit more people.

He went on to note that the United Nations itself is integrating climate risks into its political analysis, as well as its conflict prevention and peacebuilding initiatives. The Climate Security Mechanism helps field missions, country teams and other partners analyse and address climate‑related security risks and shape integrated and timely responses. Citing several examples, he said the regional office in West Africa and the Sahel is coordinating with various United Nations funds, programmes and agencies in a new initiative on peace, climate change and environmental degradation. Meanwhile, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is working with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to promote the peaceful settlement of farmer‑herder conflicts, he reported.

ILWAD ELMAN, Chief Operating Officer of the Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre, warned that the world is in a planetary emergency that will make the task of maintaining international peace and security even harder in the coming decade and beyond. "As climate change and other environmental crises gather pace, they are touching every aspect of life," she said, adding: "The world of international peace and security is no exception." The Council has held several thematic debates on climate and security, but that is still too painfully slow for the vulnerable communities on the front lines, she emphasized, noting that, for front‑line activists on the cusp of climate and security, there is little support available. The toolkits, recommendations, and research being produced primarily target Governments, the United Nations, peacekeeping missions, and, at times, large international non‑governmental organizations, and there is very little investment in building technical and knowledge‑management capacities of grass‑roots civil society organizations, she said. "The discourse around climate change and security still fails to adequately meet the needs of affected communities and represent the voices of those that are disproportionately affected by climate‑related security risks," she stressed.

She went on to state that she works in Somalia as a director of the Elman Peace Centre, a peacebuilding organization established in response to the armed conflict and working to prevent and counter violent extremism. The Centre also facilitates the disarmament, rehabilitation and reintegration of young people and adults associated with different armed groups, including defectors from designated terrorist organizations, she added. Noting the Centre began working on climate change issues because lives and daily realities are at the nexus of climate change and security, she explained that it realized that peacebuilding goals and mediation efforts could not succeed or be sustained without addressing the broader environmental issues related to security, whether it is the locust- and drought‑induced scarcity of resources that multiplies the threat of intraclan conflict or flooding that continues to drive regional displacement and vulnerability to violent extremist groups. The impacts of climate change and environmental degradation are also changing what it takes to build peace for local peacebuilders, she added.

Arguing that peacebuilding practitioners and civil society organizations must be empowered to respond to their changing environments, she said they need the ability to access technical and financial resources as well as educational materials that are fit for purpose. Risk assessment information should be made available to peacebuilding practitioners through the Climate Security Mechanism, she added. Stressing that the Security Council and the wider United Nations system must be receptive to bottom‑up solutions and community‑led processes, she said that mandating and deploying more environmental security advisers can assist in forging cooperation, learning and coordination with local expertise. She noted that she sits on a panel of Environment of Peace, which explores how environmental deterioration exacerbates insecurity and, on the positive side, how environmental sustainability can support peace.

The organization will launch a report in May 2022, in the run‑up to the Stockholm+50 conference, she said, adding that the report will look at the risks and opportunities for peace arising from the transition to a greener and more sustainable future, and show how global cooperation and collective action can help to address those enormous challenges. "The momentum that currently exists for the climate and security agenda is undeniable; now is the time for policymakers to turn this ambitious agenda into coherent policies that guide the future of peacebuilding," she stressed.

Statements

MICHEÁL MARTIN, Taoiseach of Ireland and Council President for September, spoke in his national capacity, emphasizing that it is essential to act now to prevent any further warming of the planet, and to reach net‑zero emissions as quickly as possible. "A concerted multilateral response to climate change involving all the organs of the United Nations is urgently needed," he said, adding: "That response must include this Council." From the Sahel to Iraq and from Lake Chad to the Horn of Africa, he said, members have already recognized that climate change is one of the factors driving conflict and fragility. Meanwhile, the instability driven by the adverse effects of climate change is felt across the globe. Noting that Ireland and Niger co‑chair the Informal Expert Group of Members of the Security Council on Climate and Security, which has convened since 2020, he said the Council has both the mandate and the tools to take action. "A failure to use them is an abdication of our responsibility," he stressed, noting that Ireland will convene discussions to draft a thematic resolution on climate and security in the coming days, and hopes that all members will engage constructively in that exercise.