It is now widely recognized that climate change is a “threat multiplier,” with a variety of implications for international peace and stability, as reflected in more frequent reference in UN Security Council discussions and outcomes, for example related to specific situations in the CAR, Darfur, Darfur, Mali, Somalia and elsewhere. What are the repercussions of broadening the definition of security at the UN Security Council to incorporate climate considerations? What are the roles of frameworks such as the Responsibility to Protect – R2P) and the Sustainable Development Goals, and concepts such as ecocide? What is the relevance of UN peacekeeping and, more broadly, peace operations?
This panel discussion—jointly hosted on April the 7th 2021 by Plataforma CIPÓ, Global Challenges Foundation, Stimson Center and Leiden University—explored the current state of play of the international climate and security debate, and how existing international institutions and policy frameworks may or may not be fit for purpose to address current global climate / ecological security issues. How might the responses of existing institutions be strengthened, and what new legal, policy and/or institutional tools may be needed? Does the novelty of the climate / ecological threat imply needed paradigm shifts or an evolution in international security discourses?
Speakers included Karen Smith (Lecturer at Leiden University), Adriana Erthal Abdenur (Executive Director of Plataforma CIPÓ), Richard Ponzio (Senior Fellow and Director of the Global Governance, Justice & Security Program at the Stimson Center in Washington, DC), Maud Sarlieve (Lecturer at the University of Paris – Nanterre) and Magnus Jiborn (Lund University and Head of Research at Global Challenges Foundation).
