“We very much did engage on big issues throughout our conversations and throughout our hard work this morning and over the months leading up to this meeting today. Issues that are important not just to all of our citizens but to the entire world. Whether it's how we ensure that there is no contradiction between a strong economy and a protected environment, understand how we need to work together as individual countries and indeed as a planet to address the challenges of climate change [...].”
Remarks by Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister, at the media conference on the bilateral meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama (Washington DC, 10 March 2016).
The scope of national security is expanding beyond violent threats to encompass a broader array of dangers. In an article for World Politics Review, CFR's Stewart M. Patrick assesses the implications of COVID-19 and climate change for the theory and practice of national security.
Although there is no causality nor direct and automatic link between climate change and conflict, we can see that climate change can intensify conflict drivers and make it harder to find stability. The online workshop "Climate change, conflict and fragility: Increasing resilience against climate-fragility risks", organised by the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO) and adelphi, looked into this complex relationship.
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous parallels have been drawn between this health crisis and the climate crisis. Science plays an important role in advising decision makers on how to ensure sustainable crisis management and a precautionary approach to avoid harmful repercussions, particularly where we do not yet know all the consequences of our actions. [...]
Decarbonisation won’t come as fast as the pandemic. But if fossil fuel exporters are not prepared for it, they will face an enduring crisis. The EU can help.