Climate, Peace and Stability: Weathering Risk Through COP and Beyond
Watch the live recording of our event below:
Read the summary of the high-level roundtable here.
A recording of this event will also be available on the COP26 German Pavilion Website.
Climate change is without doubt among the greatest security threats to humankind in the 21st century, jeopardising peace and stability and making clear the need for urgent, ambitious climate action.
At the same time, ambitious climate action – financing, adaptation and mitigation – can inadvertently have an adverse impact on peace and stability in fragile contexts, if not approached in a conflict sensitive manner. Decarbonisation can change and potentially destabilise geopolitical power relations. Weak governance structures rooted in political instability and conflict often lack the capacity to tackle climate change effectively.
Yet the implications of climate change on peace and stability, and issues of climate finance, mitigation, and adaptation and are still too often discussed as separate challenges in different fora. This conversation at COP26 sought to promote understanding of how to address the specific implications of climate change on peace and stability through all relevant channels of climate action.
The event formed part of a high-level multilateral process, following on from the Berlin Climate and Security Conference 2021, bridging to Munich Security Conference 2022 and then to COP27 and beyond.
Moderator:
- Wolfgang Ischinger, Chairman, Munich Security Conference (Video Statement available here)
Briefer:
- Martha Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding, United Nations (tbc).
Speakers:
- Miriam Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, United Arab Emirates
- Evarist Bartolo, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Malta
- François Bausch, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Luxembourg
- Miguel Berger, State Secretary, German Federal Foreign Office
- Ali Béty, High Commissioner Initiative, Les Nigériens Nourissent les Nigériens, Niger
- Gillian Caldwell, Climate Change Coordinator and Deputy Assitant Administrator, USA
- Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister, St. Vincent and the Grenadines
- Robert Mardini, Director General, ICRC
- Raychelle Omamo, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Kenya
- Helga Maria Schmid, Secretary General, OSCE
- Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General, NATO (Video Statement available here)
- Ben Wallace, Secretary of State for Defence, UK
Why the Peace Perspective matters at COP26
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