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Obama and Trudeau reaffirm cooperation on climate change and fragility

Last week, U.S. President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a “U.S.-Canada Joint Statement on Climate, Energy, and Arctic Leadership”. The statement emphasizes the importance of addressing compound climate-fragility risks, and both leaders agree to continue addressing these challenges, in particular through the G7 working group on climate and fragility:

“Recognizing the particular impact of climate change on countries already dealing with conflict and fragility, the leaders commit to addressing the intersection of climate change and security as an issue for foreign, defense, and development policies. Through the G-7 working group on climate and security and elsewhere, both sides will work together to support sound analysis, practical recommendations, and meaningful cooperation to address climate-fragility risks.”

G7 Foreign Ministers set up the climate-fragility working group in April 2015 to evaluate the recommendations of the New Climate for Peace report by an international consortium led by adelphi.

The joint statement furthermore acknowledges the leadership role of both countries in promoting global climate change action and reiterates the commitment to continue cooperation in this field bilaterally as well as through multilateral fora like the G20.

Photo credit: Official White House Photo / Pete Souza