"The risks posed by climate change are real and its impacts are already taking place," is the opening statement of the joint report by the European Commission and the High Representative Javier Solana, which was commissioned under Germany's EU Presidency in June 2007 and submitted to the Council of the European Union on 14 March 2008.

The report outlines the current debate on climate change and security. It concludes that climate change is a 'threat multiplier', which exacerbates existing tensions and instability. The report analyses those threats, touching upon a number of issues, among them (potential) conflict over resources, environmentally-induced migration, loss of territory along with potential border disputes and risks to critical infrastructure, covering virtually all regions of the world. However, despite the potentially negative repercussions, the paper does not paint a highly alarmist scenario.

The report points out that it takes the entire range of instruments available to the EU to meet the challenge. Apart from strengthening existing systems and building additional capacities for early warning and analysis, this would imply that issues of adaptation would need to be more strongly integrated in EU regional strategies than previously was the case so far. The paper also proposes developing an EU policy for the Arctic. It places special emphasis on cooperation in bilateral and multilateral contexts as well as exchanges with third countries in all areas.

However, the paper is just a beginning. It does not yet offer a concrete strategy for potential security threats arising from climate change. The decision on implementation now lies with the Council. (Achim Maas)

The paper is available at:

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/esdp/99388.pdf

News and further information about the report can be accessed at: http://www.klima-der-gerechtigkeit.de/sicherheitsrisiko-klimawandel/

 

Published in: ECC-Newsletter, April 2008