Climate Diplomacy and COP23: Editorial
Dear Reader,
This year’s UN Climate Change conference is about to kick off in Bonn, Germany. In its wake, natural and political hurricanes have shaken the planet and will affect the climate at COP23. There promises to be a packed agenda with negotiations ongoing on the implementation of the Paris Agreement’s objectives.
COP23 will be crucial to pave the way for the facilitative dialogue due in 2018 to ensure that a further improvement of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) will be improved and overall ambition increased. In addition, further steps needs to be taken towards the socalled "Paris Rule Book" to give more flesh to the bones of the Paris Agreement and guide the parties towards implementation. But, of course, with Fiji’s COP23 presidency, this conference is more. Adaptation and disaster management will be the forefront of the discussion – and the international climate community must send clear signals of solidarity and commitment to those states most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
With this special newsletter on COP23, we aim to shed light on some key developments and issues to be aware of because they are not necessarily at the top of the agenda of negotiators at the moment but ask for prolonged leadership of climate diplomats.
Migration has been a primary political concern in many regions. Anja Mihr from the Center on Governance through Human Rights looks at climate migration through the human rights lens. Next, we zero in on how important climate-related migration is for small island states, which must not be left behind. Fiji’s COP23 presidency offers an opportunity to put this matter high on the agenda.
International climate policy is shaken by a ‘leadership vacuum', not least because Donald Trump announced his intention that the United States will pull out of the Paris Agreement. This raises the likelihood that COP23 will be a political COP just as much as it will be a technical COP. Paul Joffe, former Senior Foreign Policy Counsel at the World Resources Institute, argues that climate change needs to be part of a broad, integrated agenda because of its vast implications for economic and social development. Ultimately, it is a powerful argument for increased foreign policy involvement.
Last but not least, as the debate on the links between climate and conflict continues, Adrien Detges from adelphi responds to research that disputes the contribution of climate change to the Syrian uprising. Alexander Carius, Managing Director at adelphi, then illustrates how climate change exacerbates the deadly cocktail of catastrophes in the Lake Chad Basin – and why it is paramount that the international community responds.
So stay tuned to all that is happening at COP23! We suggest 12 top Twitter accounts you can follow to do so.
Greetings from Berlin
Stephan Wolters, Senior Project Manager at adelphi
Several climate security studies have assessed the risks of climate change to security and examined potential foreign policy responses, but the connection between climate change and foreign policy remains underexplored. The new Climate Diplomacy Report of the German Foreign Office takes up the challenge.
Why has the AU been silent on the Ethiopian dam dispute?
Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan are currently engaged in vital talks over the dispute relating to the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Nile River. While non-African actors are increasingly present in the negotiations, the African Union (AU) is playing a marginal role.
New report assesses critical global security risks of a changing climate
Climate change was more central than ever at this year’s Munich Security Conference (MSC), the leading international forum for senior military, security and foreign policy leaders. The release of the inaugural “World Climate and Security Report 2020” (WCSR 2020) by the Expert Group of the International Military Council on Climate and Security (IMCCS) should help policymakers take effective action.
adelphi helps bring climate security to the Munich Security Conference
The mission of the Munich Security Conference is to “address the world’s most pressing security concerns”. These days, that means climate security: climate change is the ultimate threat multiplier, and anyone discussing food security, political instability, migration, or competition over resources should be aware of the climate change pressures that are so often at the root of security problems.