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.
Water diplomacy: a tool for climate action? – Event summary
As part of this year’s online World Water Week at Home, adelphi and IHE Delft convened the workshop "Water diplomacy: a tool for climate action?". The workshop reflected on the role that foreign policy can play in mitigating, solving and potentially preventing conflicts over the management of transboundary water resources, especially in a changing climate.
Deforestation in Brazil: It’s not just the Amazon
The Cerrado, a tropical savannah region located in Central Brazil, is nearly half as large as the Amazon and a deforestation hotspot. Yet little attention is paid to this important biome. That has to change.
Are China’s New Silk Road Ambitions a Desert Mirage?
China’s Belt and Road Initiative projects may exacerbate the risk of climate-related instability across the Middle East in the long term.
With the European Green Deal, the European Commission under President Ursula von der Leyen has committed to accelerating decarbonisation in Europe as a major priority. The report "The Geopolitics of Decarbonization: Reshaping European Foreign Relations" shows how the EU’s external relations need to evolve to adequately reflect the political, economic and social outcomes of this process.