Professor Schellnhuber, Head of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impacts Research, presented the latest findings of climate science that warn of numerous potential 'tipping points’ in the Earth’s climate system beyond which climate change would be irreversible. While such a process could fundamentally impact international relations from growing cooperation towards increasing competition and conflict, he emphasised the chances for an entirely different scenario. A 'social tipping dynamic’, in which states and people, aware of the scale of the danger, embark on a global transformation to a low-carbon sustainable economy, is still attainable.

Building on the 2011 Security Council Open Debate, the meeting demonstrated the continued engagement of the UN Security Council on climate change and contributed to a growing understanding among UN Member States of the complex linkages between climate change and security, as well as the diversity of potential approaches to reduce risks.