UN Security Council agrees on need for climate protection

The United Nations Security Council will in the future address the impacts of climate change. The Security Council - under German presidency - agreed on this in a Presidential Statement released on 20 July 2011. In the Statement the members of the Security Council raised concerns regarding

Against this background, the Security Council requested the UN Secretary-General to report on the security-related implications of climate change. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN Environment Programme, opened yesterday’s session in New York and emphasised the urgency of the issue.

“The Presidential Statement paves the way for continuously and systematically addressing the security implications of climate change at the level of the Security Council. It is more than could have been expected, given the resistance by some permanent members of the Security Council”, explains Alexander Carius, co-founder and co-director of adelphi, who was present at the session.

adelphi has been involved in the preparation of the Security Council session and jointly organised - together with the German Federal Foreign Office - a workshop on the role of the Security Council in May 2011 in New York (further information: www.adelphi.de/en/news/d…).

The Security Council will receive more detailed information on the ways in which climate change may exacerbate conflicts and on how it relates to the core mandate of the Council - the maintenance of international peace and security. Incorporating climate change in conflict analysis and providing additional contextual information will also contribute to peacebuilding activities. “The Presidential Statement provides a foundation for UN specialised agencies and programmes to more comprehensively assess and address the geopolitical impacts of climate change”, says Mr Carius.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and governmental representatives stressed the importance and pivotal role of the international climate negotiations. These are critical to limiting the risks of food crises and loss of territory resulting from sea-level rise. Consequently, a successful outcome of the climate negotiations in Durban in late 2011 is of great importance.