A short line of text in this week’s G8 communique linking climate change to global security concerns could influence the way rising emissions are dealt with at an international level.
Leaders cited climate change as a “contributing factor in increased economic and security risks globally”, a step former UK government advisor Tom Burke says is hugely significant.
“That’s the first time I can recall an explicit statement from the G8 leaders that this is not an environmental issue. It is an economic and security issue,” he told RTCC.
“It jumped out at me – it’s a significant statement. And it’s the contradiction that if you are saying that, and want to revitalise growth and deal with poverty, then you better keep the temperature below 2°C or you have not got a prayer of doing that.
“I think that is by far and away the most important part of that communique, because if they don’t tackle that problem, how can they accomplish all the other goals apart from tax, if they fail to tackle climate change.”
For the complete article, please see Responding to Climate Change.
A recently published paper by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has focused on the under-researched topic of how climate change impacts may affect violence in South and Southeast Asia. Titled “Climate change and violent conflict: Sparse evidence from South Asia and South East Asia”, the report highlights how little work has been done in looking at climate change and its possible impact on security in the most densely populated regions on the planet.
Every day humanitarian aid workers help millions of people around the world, regardless of who they are and where they are. With expert knowledge and support, humanitarian workers are well placed to create a better environment for the people that they serve as well as for themselves.
The pro-coal position of Poland’s energy ministry has thrown sand into the country’s climate diplomacy as COP24 president-designate Michał Kurtyka intensifies his diplomatic tour ahead of the United Nation’s annual climate meeting later this year in Katowice.
As governments take stock of the adequacy of the Paris Agreement, willingness to raise the level of ambition will depend significantly on confidence that a variety of promises are being kept. Many of these relate to fundamental commitments around international solidarity. A solidarity of which we are in sore need today, on far too many fronts.