2019 has only just begun, but it is already hard to imagine that there will be other extreme weather events with disastrous consequences such as cyclone Idai happening again this year. In all likelihood, such events will continue to occur as 2019 rolls on. Idai is, once more, proof of how devastating and toxic the mix of climate change, extreme weather events and poverty can be: Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe – countries that rank low in human development but contribute very little to global greenhouse gas emissions – suffer from some of the worst impacts of climate change.
With the UN climate summit in New York at the end of September 2019 coming closer, the question of whether all countries are fully aware of the need for more immediate and additional efforts still remains. While at the very least some attention is being paid to this urgency (such as the ‘Fridays for Future’ movement), there are other risks which warrant more attention to prevent future humanitarian crises.
Thanks to the UN Environment Frontiers series, there is now a fresh and timely look on new scientific insights into the trends and challenges which may cause potential environmental and climate-related risks that we may otherwise neglect today. Among these risks (and sometimes promises) are, for example, gene-editing techniques which are advancing rapidly, the impacts of further degradation of climate-critical permafrost peatlands, and the risks of maladaptation to climate change. All these risks require policymakers to engage proactively and foresightedly to develop sustainable, long-term policy and governance planning for future generations.
To that end, the interactive ECC platform has been providing the most recent and sound information for more than 15 years. Part of these efforts has been the touring exhibition "Environment, Conflict and Cooperation", which has been displayed more than 50 times throughout since 2005in five different languages! The updated and expanded online version of the exhibition is now available online, and we hope that you will use it as actively as the other sections of the platform.
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.