It's an issue noticeably absent from the US presidential election but climate change and its effects are felt everywhere. So pressing are the economic, social and environmental effects of climate change that there is an urgent need for the world's governments, particularly foreign ministries, to engage in climate diplomacy to avert future crises, warn representatives from Adelphi.
According to its website, Adelphi is a think tank that offers creative solutions and services on global environment and development challenges for policy, business and civil-society communities.
Here are the facts. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) noted that there is a 90 per cent probability that over the last 250 years, human activity has warmed the planet and that human-produced green gases have caused the observed increase in temperatures. The IPCC has predicted that by 2100, the planet's temperatures would have increased by 2 – 4 degrees celsius and that sea levels would rise by 18-59 cm. Additionally population and economic growth will accelerate climate change noted expert in Climate and Energy and International Environmental Policy and head of Climate and Energy Policies at Adelphi, Dennis Tanzler. While addressing the audience at the Learning Resource Centre at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine on October 18, Tanzler explained that by 2050, the world's population would reach nine billon, the world would urbanise further and rapidly, concentrating people in small areas – this would result in increasing demands on land, energy, food, water and other resources already affected by climate change.
But is climate change a conflict driver, a threat to international peace and security? The answer is yes, say experts from Adelphi.
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Initiated in 2015, the French Ministry for the Armed Forces organized the first international conference “Defence and climate: what are the stakes?”. Since then, the Ministry has been constantly adapting and developing its capacity of anticipation.
On 25 January 2019, the UN Security Council held an open debate to discuss the security implications of climate-related disaster events. The meeting, initiated by the Dominican Republic, underscored the global nature of climate-related disasters. Most speakers highlighted the need for better climate risk management as an important contribution to safeguarding international peace and security. The debate marks the beginning of a year in which climate security ranks high on the UN’s agenda.
Today, Friday 25th January 2019, the UN Security Council will hold an open debate addressing the impacts of climate-related disasters on international peace and security (at 4pm CET and 10am EST). President Danilo Medina of the Dominican Republic will chair the meeting, which will also include the participation of several member states at ministerial level.
The unabated growth of natural resource consumption raises risks that we will outstrip the capacities of ecosystems and governance institutions. At the same time, to achieve important global goals related to poverty alleviation, public health, equity and economic development such as those embodied in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we will simultaneously need more resources and better management of natural resources everywhere.