Climate change can have severe large-scale security consequences, particularly in Africa and Southeast Asia. Meeting this challenge requires close international cooperation, with all actors having a share in swiftly devising preventive action. This was the consensus at the high-level panel debate on climate change and international security held at the international climate conference in Copenhagen on December 15, 2009. The Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Per Stig Moeller, hosted the debate, whose participants included NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt, Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union Jean Ping, and the Administrator of UNDP, Helen Clark.



The panellists stressed the direct and discernable impacts of climate change on the general living conditions in Africa, pertaining especially to food security and conflicts. Special reference was made to Darfur and to the effects of climate change as both a threat multiplier and threat creator. The panellists expressed their concern about developments in Southeast Asia, in particular the melting of the ice in the Himalayan Mountains and the vulnerability of densely-populated lowlands; they also noted the potential large-scale impacts of melting ice in the Arctic. The discussion also dealt with climate-related migration: while Denmark is ready to recognise and accept climate refugees, the EU has had comprehensive and difficult discussions on the refugee question. Bildt stated that a definition of climate refugees would not be straightforward. He preferred using the term climate migrants and stressed the need to focus on regional cooperation and regional solutions. Clark and Moeller highlighted the need for preventive measures in order to secure people from being severely affected by climate changes and to strengthen their ability to stay in their local community.



Everyone on the panel underlined the importance of the UN as the institution where international discussions on climate change and security were anchored. Rasmussen described the role of NATO as a forum for coordination and consultation. The panellists agreed on the need for regional and international cooperation in order to respond to the negative security consequences. Just as climate change is a global problem, so are climate-induced security challenges. (Achim Maas and Stephan Wolters)



For a comprehensive overview on this event, please see the report by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which can be accessed at: /sites/default/images_old/CCIS/ccis%20panel%20debate%20151209.pdf

Published in: ECC-Newsletter, February 2010