Climate Change
Energy
Security
Global Issues
Kerstine Appunn, Sven Egenter, Julian Wettengel (Clean Energy Wire)

Germany’s foreign minister Heiko Maas highlighted the security aspect of transforming national energy systems to renewable sources. “An energy transition is not a sufficient solution for but a necessary condition for a stable and peaceful world,” he said.

Producing renewable energy could help countries to become less dependent on those fossil fuel exporting states who could put pressure on those they deliver their raw materials to, Maas said. He urged all countries to work together to prevent the dangers from global climate change, which threatened the livelihoods of millions and forced them to leave their homes. "We do not have endless time," Maas said. A multilateral approach could create more stability and more wealth in many regions of the world.

 

[This article originally appeared on Clean Energy Wire.]

[Find the full speech here (in German) or watch it here (Youtube, in German).]


German Federal Foreign Office

The impact of climate change is posing a growing threat to peace and security. Germany is therefore putting climate and security on the Security Council’s agenda.

Climate Diplomacy
Europe
Sam Morgan, EURACTIV

Russia’s economic development minister warned last week that the EU’s plans to deploy a carbon tax at the bloc’s borders will not be in line with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, just as Brussels doubled down on the idea of green tariffs.

Water
Asia
Scott Moore, New Security Beat

Few places have suffered more from the COVID-19 pandemic than southern China, the region where the novel coronavirus was first detected in the city of Wuhan. But it turned out that the pandemic is not the only calamity to befall south China this year. The region has been inundated by heavy rainfall since late May, creating a risk of catastrophic flooding.

Climate Change
Global Issues
Manon Levrey, EPLO

Natural resources-based conflicts are sometimes made complex by non-climate push and pull factors, like unemployment and political tension. These factors should be taken into account when developing and implementing a peacebuilding strategy, making sure all stakeholders are at the table – including those fueling the conflict. The online workshop ‘Integrating peacebuilding and climate change mitigation efforts in natural resource management’, organised by the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO) and adelphi, looked into this complex issue.