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.
Linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the Latin American landmass has often been presented as one of the holy grails of development for the region. While China’s idea of a ‘Nicaraguan Canal’ has made headlines globally, another major infrastructure project is in the works further south: the Bi-Oceanic Railway. The idea has already spurred transboundary environmental cooperation, but the public is still in the dark.
Using a progressive environmental security concept can help to tackle a range of environmental issues related to armed conflict, such as deforestation, loss of biodiversity, tensions over natural resources, conflict pollution, and damage to ecosystems. The environment can actually play a role in peacebuilding. This article briefly outlines why such an inclusive and environmental protection approach is needed and how it could be implemented.
Climate action and free trade have been perceived as contrary agendas for a long time. Despite more and more governments seeing tremendous potential for win-win outcomes, aligning trade and climate has become harder. This is due to changes in our current geopolitical landscape, as Christian Hübner explains in light of the upcoming G20 summit.
Human activity has caused the temperature of the Earth and its atmosphere to rise by about 1°C above pre-industrial levels, triggering fundamental changes to the planet’s physical and social landscapes. On 8 October an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that temperatures were rising faster than expected, and that 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels could occur as early as 2030.