The process at the UN level generated a sequence of three government-led initiatives between 2011 and 2013. Following the UN Security Council debate, the German Federal Foreign Office and adelphi held a conference in Berlin on 10 –11 October 2011 to further build commitment on the topic at the highest levels. The discussion explored ways to further develop regional cooperation arrangements, as well as allowing dialogue on the design of an appropriate global-level preventive action framework.

The two days of discussions built upon the understanding that regional organisations and actors are well positioned to address climate security risks and engage stakeholders in a long-term policy-making process. Extensive deliberations on foreign policy options were held in working group sessions on three key areas: water diplomacy, food security and coastal stability. For each topic, international experts provided the initial inputs around which the discussion developed.

Conference chairs summarised conclusions and helped identify further steps for follow-up by participants. 'Climate Diplomacy in Perspective – From Early Warning to Early Action’, a comprehensive volume with a collection of selected output and the common conclusions, was published in 2012. This meeting inspired two follow-up conferences in London and Seoul. These externally organised events are summarised in the following pages. The possibility of holding a fourth government-led conference in Latin America is currently being explored.

For further background information and the conference report, please see here.