Climate shocks as drivers of migration might be long present in the environmental narrative, but they are hardly being addressed on a policy level. According to MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, the lack of a legal definition of ‘climate refugees’ effectively excludes the issue from international agendas – and creates space for generalized scepticism.
From 8-9 June 2018, Canada will be hosting this year's G7 Summit. In advance of the meeting, the Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, Patricia Espinosa, published this statement in the publication 'G7 Canada: The Charlevoix Summit':
On 22 June 2018, the High Representative / Vice President Federica Mogherini will convene and host a high-level event 'Climate, Peace, and Security: The Time for Action'. The 22 June 2018 event will be held in Brussels, Palais d’Egmont, and will assess new and ongoing climate change threats, evaluate progress on climate-security policy and operational linkages, and analyse options to further progress action on climate, security, and peace.
Central Asian countries have long been competing over the water resources of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya river basins. Despite political commitment to cooperation, the policies of the five Central Asian republics – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – have largely been driven by uncoordinated and partly contradicting national strategies. This focus on short-term national interests entails significant financial costs and major risks for the future development of the whole region.
The destruction caused by Cyclone Ockhi in South Asia portends what a ‘climate-changed’ world has in store for humankind, especially taking into consideration the adverse human security implications of such disasters that have to be addressed urgently. Dhanasree Jayaram argues that planetary security in this context can be best ensured at the regional level.
In November 2017, the U.S. government released its first ever Global Water Strategy – to our knowledge also the first of its kind globally. The opening page cites President Trump claiming that ‘[w]ater may be the most important issue we face for the next generation’. This priority may surprise observers of the current U.S. administration.
While COP-23 took many steps in the right direction, there are a plethora of issues at stake for developing countries that need to be ironed out, such as transparency, pre-2020 climate action, and loss and damage, before the post-2020 international climate policy is rolled out. Dhanasree Jayaram argues that the developing bloc needs to unite for a better and equitable world.
There is an emerging consensus CO2 needs to be sucked out of the air to meet climate goals, but no discussion of which countries are responsible for acting. Countries need to start negotiating who will take responsibility for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, two scientists argued in Nature Climate Change on Monday.
Attended by Ministers from 35 countries, the Petersberg Climate Dialogue took place from 22-23 May 2017, in Berlin, Germany. Participants discussed measures needed for the complete, effective and swift implementation of the Paris Agreement in the face of new challenges in a multilateral world. Along with adaptation to climate change, the talks focused on national long-term strategies and development paths towards a greenhouse gas (GHG)-neutral global economy.
Ahead of this week's G7 summit in Sicily, our editorial team spoke with Pier Carlo Sandei, UNEP’s Advisor to the Italian G7 Presidency, about the ongoing preparations and the role of environmental topics within the G7.