“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).
On Tuesday, 4 June, seven foreign ministers, 19 ambassadors, several ministers and more than 200 experts met in Berlin to act on climate security risks at the Berlin Climate and Security Conference. "Achieving the international climate targets is the new imperative of our foreign policy”, the German Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas, said in his opening speech. This is the aim of the Berlin Call for Action which was presented at the conference.
Governments must invest new effort and money to prevent climate change from driving new conflicts, according to a diplomatic statement drafted by the German foreign office.
A multi-sectoral and multilateral approach to South Asia's rivers could provide sustainable development, but it needs to include those already marginalised by a narrow development path.
Women are vital for effective climate policy making and implementation. In South Asia, more needs to be done on systematically integrating women into policy processes - as active stakeholders and not merely as victims of climate risks.