One of the world’s lowest-lying countries invited international experts to discuss the security challenges related to climate change.
The Dhaka Global Dialogue (11-13 November 2019) brought together stakeholders from across the Indo-Pacific Region to discuss the shared challenges they face. Co-hosted by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), India and the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS), the conference raised issues such as growth and development in the Indo-Pacific and the link between climate security and migration.
As Dhanasree Jayaram noted in her recent South Asia risk brief for the Climate Security Expert Network, extreme weather events and sea level rise are driving irregular migration in the region, especially from rural to urban areas. Dhaka for example, is the most densely populated city and the world and receives up to 400,000 low-income migrants every year. This has the potential to exacerbate urban inequalities, competition for urban resources and services, and tensions between local authorities and urban slum dwellers.
Beatrice Mosello of adelphi took part in the climate security and migration panel discussion along with Md. Shahidul Haque, senior secretary from the Bangladeshi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina gave the opening address, underscoring how seriously the low-lying country takes international cooperation on climate-related issues.
Dr. Mosello also moderated a panel on “Ecofeminism: Engendering Green Transitions”, an often overlooked topic – women are the primary energy managers in households across the region’s developing countries and are thus the main agents of change in the transition to sustainable energy.
At the conclusion of the 50th Pacific Islands Forum, Pacific leaders issued a Forum Communiqué and the ‘Kainaki II Declaration for Urgent Climate Change Action Now’ – the strongest collective statement the Forum has issued on climate change. Pacific leaders highlight the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit, the SAMOA Pathway Review, and 25th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 25) to the UNFCCC as “global turning points to ensure meaningful, measurable and effective climate change action”.
If ratified, the Mercosur-EU trade deal may reinforce the parties’ commitment to climate action. Yet, its potential relevance is weakened by a language that often stops short of concrete commitments, as well as political resistance.
Climate Change Is Exacerbating Iraq’s Complicated Water Politics
Iraq is on the verge of an environmental breakdown, and climate change is not helping. The country's fragile environment and the increasing scarcity of natural resources — particularly water — are a result of poor environmental management, as well as several political and historical factors. However, as climate change impacts add to the existing pressures, the environmental collapse turns into a security issue.
To fight illegal coca plantations and conflict actors’ income sources, Colombia’s president wants to loosen the ban on aerial glyphosate spraying. However, considering the dynamics of organised crime, the use of toxic herbicides will not only fail to achieve its aim, it will have many adverse effects for the environment and human health, fundamentally undermining ways to reach peace in the country. International cooperation and national policy-makers need to account for this peace spoiler.