| UN: “Without concerted international action, Climate Change will fuel conflict” |
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In a UN Security Council meeting held on 20 July, UN officials have highlighted the potential threat climate change poses for international peace and security. This comes ahead of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Durban, to be held 28 November – 9 December this year. Officials therefore argued in order to combat the potential threat, UNFCCC must not fall victim to those problems which continue to plague international climate change negotiations, and instead be viewed as a precious opportunity for developed countries to take decisive action on climate change. In addressing the Security Council, Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary General urged developed countries to lead the global effort to find ways to mitigate and adapt to the detrimental effects of climate change, adding that emerging economies should shoulder their fair share of the responsibility. The Secretary General called for ambitious steps must be made to reduce the impact of climate change and make “sustainable development for all” the defining issue of our time. This would include accelerating the implementation of agreements made during the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancún, Mexico, including on forest protection, adaptation and technology; providing “fast start” finance and agreement on sources of long-term funding; and setting ambitious targets to ensure that any increase in the global average temperature remained below 2° C. Achim Steiner, Executive Director for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) addressed the Security Council, arguing climate change could result in "sudden and abrupt" shocks to countries around the world and have "far-reaching implications for global stability and security”. He added "Competition over scarce water and land, exacerbated by regional changes in climate, are already a key factor in local-level conflicts in Darfur, the Central African Republic, northern Kenya, and Chad, for example-when livelihoods are threatened by declining natural resources, people either innovate, flee or can be brought into conflict." Pointing to the UNFCCC meeting in Durban, the official concluded, “Indeed there is no reason why the international community cannot avoid escalating conflicts, tensions and insecurity related to a changing climate if a deliberate, focused and collective response can be catalysed that tackles the root causes, scale, potential volatility and velocity of the challenges emerging”. The meeting represented a landmark occasion for the international community in formally recognising the link between climate change and conflict. However some member states deemed the meeting ‘unnecessary’, doubting the added value of the event. For example, Russia initially opposed the adoption of a statement on the issue, with Envoy Alexander Pankin, adding that it would “merely lead to increased politicisation of the issue and increased disagreements”. Temporary council members Brazil and India also raised doubts whether climate change should be put on the council’s agenda and developing countries said it was an attempt by the large nations to muscle in on the territory of the UN General Assembly and UN agencies specialising in climate change. Sources:  |
