In January 2020, the German Federal Foreign Office launched Green Central Asia, a regional initiative on climate and security in Central Asia and Afghanistan. The aim of the initiative is to support a dialogue in the region on climate change and associated risks in order to foster regional integration between the six countries involved.
In addition, Green Central Asia will create better access to information and risk analyses, enabling countries to more accurately assess the impact of climate change and take preventive measures. At the same time, dialogues and workshops will increase decision-makers’ abilities to adequately address climate-change related security risks at the national and regional levels. Scientific collaboration will support the expansion of national expertise, with the aim of identifying adequate solutions to the challenges posed by climate change. A high-level political dialogue on the nexus between climate change and security, as relevant to foreign policy, will actively support the implementation of Green Central Asia.
On 28 January 2020, the German Federal Foreign Office held a conference in Berlin to mark the launch of the initiative. The Conference was opened by Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany, H.E. Mr Heiko Maas, and the High Representative of the European Union, H.E. Mr Josep Borrell (speeches from the conference are available here.) It brought together the foreign ministers of the Central Asian states and Afghanistan, as well as more than 250 participants from governments, international organisations, the private sector, civil society, and the scientific community to discuss the climate and security challenges facing Central Asian countries and Afghanistan—and how the Green Central Asia initiative can contribute to addressing them.
While the discussions touched on a wide range of issues, some key messages stood out. Central Asia and Afghanistan are hot spots where climate change threatens to result in severe economic, development and environmental losses. Since these risks know no borders, regional cooperation and a common regional strategy based on mutual trust is essential. Germany and the EU have a long history of working together with Central Asia and Afghanistan, so the new initiative should build on both these relationships and the work that stakeholders are already doing on the ground in the region.
During the conference, Germany, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and Afghanistan signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on cooperation in the field of climate and security in Central Asia and Afghanistan within the framework of Green Central Asia. Germany is working with the Central Asian states, Afghanistan, the EU and other relevant actors to put together an action plan that will transform some of the suggestions and proposals made during the conference into concrete action.
Green Central Asia
EU lawmakers support 55% emission cuts as IPCC spectre lurks
Members of the European Parliament voted on Wednesday (10 October) in favour of increasing the EU’s Paris Agreement emissions pledge by 2020. They also urged the European Commission to make sure its long-term climate strategy models net-zero emissions for 2050 “at the latest”.
The Double Burden of Climate Exposure and State Fragility
A new USAID report focuses on the intersection of climate exposure and state fragility worldwide. It finds that the factors that make a country vulberable to large-scale conflict are similar to those that make it vulnerable to climate change. The report thus offers a way for global audiences with an interest in climate and security to identify places of high concern.
What difference does it make?
A big difference. That was the conclusion the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) came to when it assessed the differences between a 1.5°C and a 2°C warmer world in a landmark special report published in early October. The leading scientific authority on climate change found that the world is likely to pass the 1.5 °C mark between 2030 and 2052 if current emission trends are not interrupted.
Pakistan’s unprecedented climate shocks make it clear: regional cooperation for managing shared waters is desperately needed. To halt the increasing impacts on agriculture and livelihoods that cripple the country’s economy, diplomacy is of paramount importance. In our interview, Moeen Khan explains how territorial and ethnic tensions with India hinder much-needed transboundary solutions – and how the international community can help.