During April 10 and11 2016, the G7 Foreign Ministers met at Hiroshima, Japan to discuss current international affairs in the run-up to the G7 Summit in May. In the final Joint Communiqué they once again took a strong stance on tackling climate-fragility risks collectively. They endorsed a quick entry into force of the Paris Agreement by all parties, while also emphasizing the role of the G7 in the prevention of climate fragility risks and the need to further consider these challenges as part of their foreign policies:
“We reiterate that climate change poses a serious threat to global security and economic prosperity and shared the view that foreign policy must contribute to addressing this challenge effectively. In this context, we welcome the report submitted to us by the G7 Working Group on Climate Change and Fragility, endorse its recommendations, and affirm the need to continue to work on the issues of the climate-fragility risks by aligning our efforts toward the common goal of increasing resilience and reducing fragility in the face of global climate change, including taking steps to integrate climate-fragility considerations across our national governments.”
This statement has been preceded by the Meeting of G7 Foreign Ministers in Lübeck a year ago, where the Ministers first announced their commitment on tackling climate-fragility risks after receiving and discussing the report A New Climate for Peace: Taking Action on Climate and Fragility Risks, which was conducted by an independent international consortium led by adelphi. As a consequence, the foreign ministers decided to set up a working group with the task to evaluate the report and work out recommendations regarding possible implementation in time for their 2016 meeting.
With their latest declaration, the foreign ministers substantiated their commitment to attend to the matter of climate and fragility risks as posed in the report.
The European Green Deal has made the environment and climate change the focus of EU action. Indeed, climate change impacts are already increasing the pressure on states and societies; however, it is not yet clear how the EU can engage on climate security and environmental peacemaking. In this light, and in the run-up to the German EU Council Presidency, adelphi and its partners are organising a roundtable series on “Climate, environment, peace: Priorities for EU external action in the decade ahead”.
In January 2020, the German Federal Foreign Office launched Green Central Asia, a regional initiative on climate and security in Central Asia and Afghanistan. The aim of the initiative is to support a dialogue in the region on climate change and associated risks in order to foster regional integration between the six countries involved.
Climate change will shift key coordinates of foreign policy in the coming years and decades. Even now, climate policy is more than just environment policy; it has long since arrived at the centre of foreign policy. The German Foreign Office recently released a report on climate diplomacy recognizing the biggest challenges to security posed by climate change and highlighting fields of action for strengthening international climate diplomacy.
A high-level ministerial conference in Berlin is looking at the impact of climate change on regional security in Central Asia. The aim is to foster stronger regional cooperation, improve the exchange of information and form connections with academia and civil society.