Senior British MEP Graham Watson has called for the creation of an EU special representative on climate security.
His demand comes after parliament last week debated what role the EU's security and defence policy should play in climate-driven natural disasters.
Watson, who is chairman of a global parliamentary network called the Climate Parliament, warned of the "security implications" of climate change.
The former ALDE group leader said, "We have to face the facts. Just this week the World Bank published a report showing that, without more radical action, we are likely to warm our planet by an average of three degrees celsius, and possibly even four degrees celsius.
"That means more tropical storms, sea level rise and drought. We cannot afford this - my own constituency of south west England has recently seen torrential rain and over 50 flood warnings across Bristol, Somerset and Devon."
"These climate impacts - whether they come with a bang or are a gradual drip-drip process - will have security implications. It could be water wars, drought-fuelled famines or flood refugees. We would be fools to not start thinking about the military implications now."
Watson, a British Liberal MEP, said the commission should ensure that climate security is "mainstreamed" in all areas of EU common security and defence policy reports, spending and strategy.
He added, "I would also add that we need an EU special representative on climate security. I fear that without one very little would happen."
His call for such as post was backed last week by parliament's foreign affairs committee.
For the complete article, please see TheParliament.com.
Initiated in 2015, the French Ministry for the Armed Forces organized the first international conference “Defence and climate: what are the stakes?”. Since then, the Ministry has been constantly adapting and developing its capacity of anticipation.
On 25 January 2019, the UN Security Council held an open debate to discuss the security implications of climate-related disaster events. The meeting, initiated by the Dominican Republic, underscored the global nature of climate-related disasters. Most speakers highlighted the need for better climate risk management as an important contribution to safeguarding international peace and security. The debate marks the beginning of a year in which climate security ranks high on the UN’s agenda.
Today, Friday 25th January 2019, the UN Security Council will hold an open debate addressing the impacts of climate-related disasters on international peace and security (at 4pm CET and 10am EST). President Danilo Medina of the Dominican Republic will chair the meeting, which will also include the participation of several member states at ministerial level.
The unabated growth of natural resource consumption raises risks that we will outstrip the capacities of ecosystems and governance institutions. At the same time, to achieve important global goals related to poverty alleviation, public health, equity and economic development such as those embodied in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we will simultaneously need more resources and better management of natural resources everywhere.