The climate diplomacy podcast gives insights to current topics in international climate diplomacy. Our hosts interviews authors of recent publications or experts on their take of what needs to be done to promote climate foreign policy.
This episode features Andrew Gilmour, Executive Director of the Berghof Foundation, and Janani Vivekananda, Senior Advisor at adelphi, in an intimate fireside chat. Moderated by renowned mediator and former diplomat Günther Baechler, they discuss why and how climate change and environmental considerations should be an integral part of conflict analysis and peacebuilding processes. The speakers’ vast experiences seeing first-hand the effects of climate change on conflict dynamics around the world allows for an interesting and lively discussion about climate change in peacebuilding.
The world needs to undergo a deep, transformative change to achieve sustainability. Yet, progress on many of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda is lagging while the willingness to cooperate internationally often seems to be waning. Foreign policy must help bridge this gap, ensuring ambition and providing guidance. In this episode of the Climate Diplomacy Podcast, host Martin Wall discusses the role of foreign affairs in the global sustainability architecture with Daria Ivleva, one of the editors of adelphi’s recent publication Driving Transformative Change: Foreign Affairs and the Agenda 2030.
Interviewee: Daria Ivleva, adelphi
Right-wing populist parties are already part of the governments of seven EU member states and are expected to make up a quarter of MEPs after the European elections in May 2019. The dwindling trust of citizens in democratic institutions and in Europe, the re-sorting of party spectrums, the declining influence of traditional popular parties as well as the emergence of multi-party coalitions and minority governments will all make governance increasingly difficult. At the same time, we are experiencing a profound transformation of life, work and mobility through digitalisation, urbanisation and climate change. In this episode host Martin Wall talks to the authors of an explorative study on the the voices and the weight of right-wing populist parties in the formulation of European climate policy.
Interviewees: Stella Schaller and Alexander Carius, adelphi
You can download the study "Convenient Truths - Mapping climate agendas of right-wing populist parties in Europe" here.
The Planetary Security Conference brings together experts, policy makers and politicians from around the world to discuss how best to tackle the security risks of climate change. The conference also reports on progress towards meeting the ambitions of The Hague Declaration which set out an action agenda for the community of practice on climate security. This year we spent some time interviewing some of the participants to get their insights into how climate change affects international and human security.
Interviewees include:
Also watch the Best of Video of the Planetary Security Conference 2019.
With climate change increasingly being seen as a security issue, we ask what role the United Nations Security Council could and should play. To answer this question, we are joined on the Climate Diplomacy Podcast by UN expert and Chatham House Associate Fellow Oli Brown. In this podcast, Oli explains some of the challenges that the UN Security Council has had in tackling climate change and outlines the prospects for action in the future.
Interviewee: Oli Brown, Chatham House
Martin Wall is an Irish Research Council/European Commission funded Marie Curie CAROLINE Fellow who is currently seconded to adelphi and contributes to the Climate Diplomacy Project. He is funded through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 713279.
Jair Bolsonaro, Brasil’s current de facto presidential frontrunner, says he would withdraw Brazil from the Paris Agreement if he wins the October election. The withdrawal of such an important developing country, home to the world’s largest rainforest, would deal a blow to international climate cooperation. Bolsorano’s opposition to the international pact has drawn criticism from the UN’s environment chief.
Until now, no one had seriously doubted that relations between the US and Europe, for all the difficulties and conflicts they have gone through, would continue safe and sound. Since Trump was elected as US President however, the atmosphere has changed. The re-nationalisation of the world order has gained speed and is making clear how far advanced global interdependencies have become. With global multilateralism in crisis, climate diplomacy could act as a new driving force.
There are only a few weeks to go before international and local leaders from states, regions, cities, businesses, investors and civil society travel to the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco to create a new wave of mobilization. As Earth is at risk of entering a situation of extreme conditions, those going must bring along more than just flowers in their hair.
The surge in the frequency and intensity of climate change impacts has raised the alarm about how this could hamper coastal activities. Several critical ports in the Indo-Pacific region are hubs of international trade and commerce and at the same time vulnerable to typhoons, taller waves and erosion. India’s climate diplomacy at the regional level could activate climate-resilient pathways for port development and management.