Climate and Security - Security Council Debate, 23 February 2021

hi there everybody uh antonio uh secretary general thank you very much everybody for for joining us today and i'm very very proud and pleased to be the first uk prime minister to be chairing the un security council in i think three decades or or more and the reason i'm uh proud to be doing this particularly uh today is because the issue before us uh security and climate change and the impact of climate change on global security is now of absolutely paramount importance and we'll be talking in a minute about the impacts of climate change on the countries that uh are worst if affected by it about what we need to do to help uh but first of all i want uh us all to hear uh if uh you will for uh for a few moments from a man who has devoted much of his life to chronicling the threat to all forms of life on our fragile blue planet in absolutely beautiful documentaries which i trust uh that you have uh seen and a man who understands deeply uh how that threat has intensified over the last few decades because he has personally seen it himself with his own eyes and has seen the change unfolding before us so i'm going to hand over now to sir david attenborough thank you prime minister and members of the security council i'm greatly honored to have this opportunity to speak to you i'm not a politician nor am i a diplomat i speak as a member of the public who listens to your deliberations and pronouncements with care and concern we know that the security of the entire world depends on your decisions that you hold the key to preventing a repetition of that global catastrophe the great war that took place during my youth and transformed a whole generation and that awesome responsibility i know well still rests with you but may i plead that today there are threats to security of a new and unprecedented kind these threats do not divide us they are threats which should unite us no matter from which part of the world we come for they face us all they are rising global temperatures the spoiling of the ocean that vast universal ladder on which people everywhere depend for their food changes in the pattern of weather worldwide that pay no regard to national boundaries but that can turn forests into deserts drown great cities and lead to the extermination of huge numbers of the other creatures with which we share this planet no matter what we do now some of these threats will assure they become reality within a few short years others could in the lifetime of today's young people destroy entire cities and societies even altering the stability of the entire world the heating of our planet has already reached the point that the impacts on the poorest and most vulnerable people are profound but this is only the beginning of this crisis in the last 150 years the world has warmed on average by just over one degree celsius and our atmosphere now contains concentrations of carbon dioxide that have not been equaled for millions of years we are today perilously close to tipping points that once passed we'll send global temperatures spiraling catastrophically higher if we continue on our current path we will face the collapse of everything that gives us our security food production access to fresh water habitable ambient temperature and ocean food chains and if the natural world can no longer support the most basic of our needs then much of the rest of civilization will quickly break down please make no mistake climate change is the biggest threat to security that modern humans have ever faced i don't envy you the responsibility that this places on all of you and your governments we have left the stable and secure climatic period that gave birth to our civilizations there is no going back no matter what we do now it's too late to avoid climate change and the poorest and most vulnerable those with the least security are now certain to suffer our duty right now is surely to do all we can to help those in the most immediate danger but of course we have a parallel duty and it's here when i think that our grounds for hope while it's true we can never go back to the stable benign climate that enabled us to flourish for those past 10 000 years i do believe that if we act fast enough we can reach a new stable state in november this year at cop 26 in glasgow we have what may be our last opportunity to make this step change if we recognize climate change and the loss of nature as worldwide security threats as indeed they are then we may yet act proportionately and in time the change needed in itself sounds immense and of course it is but we already have many of the technologies needed at least for the initial changes and perhaps crucially we also have a level of public support and demand for action that i have myself never seen before people today all over the world now realize this is no longer an issue which will affect future generations it is people alive today and in particular young people who will live with the consequences of our actions politicians and business leaders know this too having seen how quickly and radically their societies and global activities were affected by covid it is now sadly easier to imagine some of the consequences of climate change perhaps the most significant lesson brought by these last 12 months has been that we are no longer separate nations each best served by looking after its own needs and security we are a single truly global species whose greatest threats are shared and whose security must ultimately come from acting together in the interests of us all climate change is a threat to global security that can only be dealt with by unparalleled levels of global cooperation it will compel us to question our economic models and where we place value invent entirely new industries recognize the moral responsibility that wealthy nations have to the rest of the world and put a value on nature that goes far beyond money and through global cooperation we may achieve far more than tackling climate change we may finally create a stable healthy world where resources are equally shared and where we thrive in balance with the rest of the natural world we may for the first time in the entire history of humanity come to know what it feels like to be secure well i think you will agree it was great to hear from sir david and his words uh strike me as being very very profound they are uh the harvest of a long long acquaintance with the with the problem uh i'm now going to call the uh beat this vtc meeting of the security council to order and adopt the agenda and the provisional agenda for this meeting is maintenance of international peace and security climate change and security the agenda is adopted and in accordance with rule 37 of the security council's provisional rules of procedure i invite his excellency mr lazarus mccarthy chaquera a president of malawi appearing on behalf of the least developed country group his excellency mr gaston alfonso brown prime minister and minister for finance and corporate governance of antigua and barbuda appearing on behalf of the alliance of small island states and his excellency mr heiko mars uh federal uh minister for foreign affairs of germany appearing on behalf of the group of friends of climate change in accordance uh with rule 39 of the council's provisional rules of procedure i invite miss nazarene miss nizarin al-syme chair of the un youth advisory group to participate in this meeting agreed it is so agreed so decided i should say [Music] item two of the agenda the security council will now begin its consideration of item two of the agenda i wish to draw the attention of council members to document s forward slash 2021's forward slash 155 a letter dated the 17th of february 2021 from the permanent representative of the united kingdom to the united nations addressed to the secretary-general transmitting a concept paper on the item under consideration i now invite uh the colleagues to speak and i give the floor to his excellency the secretary general of the un antonio guterres antonio would you kindly make your remarks thank you very much mr president prime minister boris johnson excellencies i thank the british presidency for convening this debate and for your invitation to brief on the subject of great concern the climate emergency is the defining issue of our time the last decade was the hottest in human history carbon dioxide levels are at record highs and wildfires cyclones floods and droughts are the new normal these shocks not only damage the environment on which we depend they also weaken our political economic and social systems and the science is clear we need to limit the global temperature increased 1.5 degrees celsius by the end of the century and our duty is even clearer we need to protect the people and communities that are being hit already by climate disruption we must step up preparations for the escalating implications of the climate crisis for international peace and security mr president climate disruption is a crisis amplifier and multiplier where climate change dries up rivers reduces harvests destroys critical infrastructure and displaces communities it exacerbates the risks the risks of instability and conflict a study by the stockholm international international peace research institute found that 8 of the 10 countries hosting the largest multilateral peace operations in 2018 were in areas highly exposed to climate change the impacts of this crisis are greatest where fragility and conflicts have weakened coping mechanisms where people depend on natural capital like forests and fish stocks for their livelihoods and where women who bear the greatest burden of the climate emergency do not enjoy equal rights in afghanistan for example where 40 of workforce is engaged in farming reduced others push people into poverty and food insecurity leaving them susceptible to recruitment by criminal gangs and armed groups across west africa and the sale more than 50 million people depend on rearing livestock for survival changes in grazing patterns have contributed to growing violence and conflict between pastoralists and farmers in that food low rainfall and recurrent droughts are including food insecurity and competition for resources and we are seeing the results the consequences are particularly devastating for women and girls who are forced to walk further to collect water putting them at greater risk of sexual and gender-based violence vulnerability to climate risks is also correlated with income inequality in other words the poorest suffer more unless we protect those most exposed and susceptible to climate-related impacts we can expect them to become even more marginalized and their grievances to be reinforced high levels of inequality that climate change enhances can weaken social cohesion and lead to discrimination scapegoating rising tensions and unrest increasing the risk of conflict those who are already being left behind will be left even farther behind climate disruption is already driving displacement across the world across the world in some small island nations in the pacific entire communities have been forced to relocate with terrible implications for their livelihoods culture and heritage the first movement of larger numbers of people around the world will clearly increase the potential for conflict and insecurity beyond their suffering when i was a commissioner for refugees i spent time with people who had been uprooted by the impact of climate change in the horn of africa in darfur the sahel and elsewhere and listening to their stories i understood the deep suffering and trauma of families forced to abandon homes and land that had been theirs for generations mr president much more needs to be done to address the specific risks that climate change that climate crisis poses to peace and security and i see four priority areas first we need a greater focus on prevention through strong ambitious climate action we must get the world on track to achieve the goals of the paris agreement and avoid climate catastrophe we must create a truly global coalition to commit to net zero emissions by the middle of the century and we must mobilize a decade of transformation through successful cop 26 in glasgow that requires all member states to present well before november ambitious national determined contributions with targets that will allow us to cut global emissions by 45 by 2030 from for 2010 levels we are also asking all companies cities and financial institutions to prepare concrete and credible decarburization plans we still have a long way to go and we look to the measuring meters to lead by example in the coming months this is a credibility test of their commitment to people and planet and it's the only way we will keep the 1.5 degree goal within reach second we need the immediate actions to protect countries communities and people from increasingly frequent and severe climate impacts we need a breakthrough on adaptation and resilience which means dramatically raising the level of investments all donors and multilateral national development banks must increase the share of adaptations resilience finance to at least 50 percent of their climate finance support and we must make these funds accessible to those on the front lines of the climate crisis and developed countries must keep their pledge of channeling 100 billion us dollars annually to the global south they have already missed the deadline of 2020. we need to scale up early warning systems and early action on climate-related crisis from droughts and storms to the emergence of zoonotic diseases and we also need stronger social protection to support those impacted these actions must start now with transformative policies as we emerge from the pandemic economic and financial systems must incorporate climate risks into financial analysis so that it is captured in business models and investment decisions we must invest in renewable energy and green infrastructure in short we must close the finance gap by increasing support to the countries and communities that are suffering the worst impacts of the climate crisis and that support much must reach women and girls who bear the brunt of the climate crisis and constitute 80 percent of those displaced by climate change third we need to embrace a concept of security that puts people at its center the coffee 19 pandemic has shown the devastation that so-called non-traditional security threats can cause on a global scale preventing and addressing the poverty food insecurity and displacement caused by climate disruption contributes to sustaining peace and reducing the risk of conflict the nobel committee recognized this when it awarded the nobel peace prize to the world food programme last year respect for human rights particularly women rights the rule of law inclusion and diversity are fundamental to solving the climate crisis and creating more peaceful and stable societies the 2030 agenda and the sustainable development goals are a global blueprint for action the fourth priority is to deepen partnerships across and beyond the united nations system we must leverage and build on the strengths of different stakeholders including this council the peace building commission international financial institutions regional organizations civil society the private sector academia and others the climate security mechanism which brings together the department of political and peace building affairs the united nations development programme and the united nations environment program is a blueprint for such collaboration within the united nations system as we work to deliver these goals the united nations is striving to lead by example by making sure our operations take full account of the climate crisis we are working to ensure that our mediation strategies analysis and reporting including within the security council consistently reflect climate risks in south sudan for example an awareness of the impact of climate change helped our peacekeeping operation to mediate a local agreement on cattle management in yemen the peace building fund supported efforts to restore and strengthen local water governance structures reducing intercommunal tensions we are also reducing the united nations environmental footprint including through the increased use of renewable energies mr president the climate crisis is the multilateral challenge of our age it is already impacting every area of human activity solving it requires coordination and cooperation on a scale we have never before seen the engagement of all multilateral bodies including this council can play an important role in facing this challenge i urge council members to use their influence during this pivotal year to ensure the success of cop 26 and to mobilize others including international financial institutions and the private sector to do their part in the full support of united nations for the british presidency of cop 26 together with your italian co-chairs 2021 is a make or break year for collective action against the climate emergency thank you thank you very much antonio for your terrific uh remarks just now and also for your continued uh leadership uh at the un on this issue on climate change in the run-up to cop26 and uh it's great to be working with you on it uh antonio with other uh colleagues i can i can see there on the on the screen i i want to go to uh okay i now give the floor i should say uh in uh according to the vehicle i now give the floor to miss nezreen uh al-syme chair of the un youth advisory group your excellency president of the security council your excellencies member of the security council mr antonio gutierrez united nations secretary general ladies and gentlemen young people who are watching us online around the world let me first start by thanking security council members for allowing me to speak on this important and crucial issue i would like also to extend special thanks to presidency of the security council the uk for the invitation the security council has held six open debates specifically on climate security risks in 2007 2011 2018 and 2019 and two events in 2020 and has included reference to climate security security risks in resolutions related to somalia sudan west africa the sahel mali and lake chat basin science has forecasted many more countries will be joining this list if we did not take the right measures now and if we did not start adaptation especially in the african continent the united nations security council in the 17th of april 2007 held a groundbreaking open debate at the ministerial level on the relationship between energy security and climate and in the same year the eighth united nations secretary general mr ban ki-moon described the conflict in therefore as the first modern climate conflict now after almost 14 years this same agenda item is still valid and we are discussing climate security well for the sudanese young person everything regarding climate change cannot be affiliated with the word security we are living in a continuous insecurity due to many factors that put sudan on top of the list when it comes to climate vulnerability in 2018 the security council issued a resolution about sudan and i quote recognizing the adverse effects of climate change ecological changes and natural disasters among other factors on the situation therefore including through droughts desertification and land degradation and food insecurity this paragraph and others described it all humans are survival in the situation of resources degradation hunger poverty and uncontrolled climate migration will make conflict as inevitable result moreover climate-related emergencies causes major disruptions in access to health life-saving sexual and productive health service and everything climate-related loss or changes of livelihoods as well as displacement and migration increases the risk of gender-based violence and hormone practices it's also worth mentioning that women youth and children get repeatedly impacted in these climate insecure situations land and resources in africa and many other parts of the world because of climate change can no longer maintain young people in our research of a decent life good and green jobs proper access to services and including a new challenge of the covet 19 makes the only solution in front of many will be migration in-country migration cross-border or internationally legal or non-legal giving more rise to conflicts i welcome very much the security council decision for the new political mission unitas which unlike military missions can have mandate on climate change and on youth inclusion this is a historical opportunity to speak to the root causes of the conflict what i welcome most is mentioning climate change and youth participation twice in the same resolution what i appreciate more is the inclusion of climate change and environmental degradation in juba peace agreement and into other areas agreement which reflects a high sense of threats in the peace sustainability and to the peace process collecting data about conflict and climate change consulting local communities and trusting in science will be my key recommendations for today as a young person i'm sure that young people are the solution give us more space listen to us engage youth we are the present we have the future let's not repeat the previous generation slaps no more doubt stop conflicts by stopping climate change give us security secure the future i thank you very much well i thank you very much nizreen thank you very much for that uh very very uh uh important contribution and one i think everybody should be listening to around the world and i'm just gonna say a bit now myself in uh my capacity as as prime minister of the uk momentarily uh ceasing uh to i think to occupy the role of of uh of president of the council i'm just gonna i'm gonna tell you what i think and i think that for more than 75 years this security council has been tasked with maintaining peace and security and it's been it's been difficult we haven't always agreed about how to achieve that goal but uh one thing is absolutely uh clear to me that we are committed to tackling threats to our security and as you've heard from antonio and from nizren it is absolutely clear that climate change is a threat to our collective security and the security of our of our nations and i know that there are people around the world who will say that this is all uh kind of green stuff uh from a bunch of uh tree-hugging uh tofu munchers and not suited to uh international uh diplomacy and uh international politics uh i couldn't disagree uh more uh profoundly the causes of uh climate change uh we've got to address but the effects as you've heard from nazarene you've heard from antonio uh in those uh in those speeches just now are absolutely clear i think of a young man uh forced onto the road when his uh his home becomes a desert uh one of 16 million people displaced every year as a result of weather-related uh disasters and weather-related disasters that are associated with climate change he goes to some uh camp he becomes prey for a violent extremists people who radicalize him and uh the effects of that radicalization are felt around the world think of a girl who drops out of school because her daily search for water takes her further and further from her family and into the clutches of human traffickers and the international criminal gangs who profit for them or from them or think of a farmer who has lost harvest after harvest to drought and then switches to poppies because poppies are a hardier crop with the impacts uh that the uh opium crops have on the streets of uh of all our cities quite frankly or think of the impoverished and fragile nation whose government collapses when critical infrastructure is overwhelmed by increasingly frequent uh extreme weather of a kind that sends a shock waves of instability around the world now if that kind of result in terms of political economic uh humanitarian impact if that was being triggered by some kind of despotic warlord or civil war then nobody would question the right and the duty of this un security council to act and therefore it is not a subject that we can shy away from this isn't by the way uh like so many of the issues that i know you confront uh antonio this isn't some bafflingly complex diplomatic minuet this isn't some modern equivalent of the of the schleswig-holstein question can you remember the answer to the schleswig-holstein question antenna i bet you can people know the answer to climate change and they know how to tackle this crisis and uh as bill gates put it in his new book what we've got to do is go from 51 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year to net zero so the increase in global temperatures remains it at manageable levels and as we do so we must support the more vulnerable the fr and the fragile nations that are feeling the effects of of climate change and help them to adapt and to build resilience and uh that's what we're doing so last year we passed a law uh committing us in the uk to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and uh we've pledged to slash emissions by 68 uh by 2030 that's the steepest reduction for any major economy and our climate finance commitments for the next five years supporting the rest of the world to achieve this standard 11.6 billion pounds and ahead of the cop26 summit we're going to be putting climate change firmly at the top of the agenda for our g7 presidency as well so my message to you all today is now the un security council has got to act too because climate change is a geopolitical issue every bit as much as it is an environmental one and if this council is going to succeed in maintaining peace and security worldwide then it's got to galvanize the whole range of u.n embassy agencies organizations uh and into a swift and effective response if we don't act now when will we act that's my question when are we going to do something if we don't act now when uh changing sea levels are affecting our navigation around our coasts or uh when as nazarene said uh when huddled masses are fleeing drought or wildfire or conflict over resources arrive at our borders whether you like it or not it is a matter of when not if your country and your people will have to deal with the security impacts of climate change so let's do what this council was created to do and let's show the kind of global leadership that is needed to protect the peace the security and the stability of our nations of our regions and of our world thank you all very much i'm now going to uh go to the uh distinguished uh members uh representatives present and invite the council members to uh speak uh in the order on the that you have before you and i'm going to uh begin uh with his excellency uh president say uh the the president of tunisia thank you i would like to begin my intervention from where we began and where our discussion began on climate change the issue is not when the issue now is let us begin and i would like to stress what has been stressed by a number of speakers in particular madame nasrine yes the youth is the present and the future let the world listen to the youth the concept of security as you well know is no longer the traditional concept that we used to understand in fact it is as his excellency the secretary general has said it is the concept that revolves around the human being we put the human being at the heart of issues and not in a portfolio of money mr president i would like to begin by thanking you sincerely i would like to thank the united kingdom for dedicating today's meeting to the necessary confrontation of multi-faceted risks related to climate change which will affect international peace and security this is an issue that tunisia accords extreme importance during our current president during your current presidency of the council and during our membership of the security council and i would like to thank his excellency the secretary general of the united nations his valuable briefing and i would like to express our sincere appreciation for his efforts and we support firmly the priorities he has outlined for 2021 in particular galvanizing states in order to confront climate change and to mobilize the necessary support to confront the multiple effects of climate change including on peace and security in their wide sphere i would also like to thank all other briefers for their interventions and contributions and for the valuable ideas they have presented today on the critical issues faced by humanity as a whole mr president it is ironic that the human being is the greatest victim of climate change while he is primarily responsible for climate change however we remain hopeful to limit the effects of climate change and to limit climate change itself if everyone believes in the value of collective effort and a unified response it is no one's right to assassinate themselves and to commit all of humanity to death the resolution 2532 has confirmed that the threats to international peace and security are not limited to traditional threats that result from conflicts and wars there are other threats that are emerging and that are no less serious then armed conflict and they include pandemics poverty and vulnerability if pandemics are a threat and armed conflicts are in turn also a threat climate change then similarly represents a threat that is no less serious than traditional threats the results of climate change in terms of the deepening poverty and the fact that it threatens food and water security in a number of regions around the world in particular in africa this will uh deal a very strong blow to the socio-economic capacities of states and it will limit their capacity to contain the implications of such challenges and will limit the ability to address these challenges we witness tragic manifestations today of our environmental situation this warns of serious deterioration in a number of reasons around the world against the backdrop of environmental vulnerability this will prolong armed conflict and deepen crises and create a environment conducive for marginalization and exclusion and the growth of terrorist threats and organized crime in addition migration flows will increase irregular migration will increase and this will further exacerbate conflict mr president confronting this critical situation i would like to reiterate our call on the security council to adopt a new approach in order to comprehensively address these climate risks as well as its causes and effects we also call for providing the necessary financial support to all u.n agencies and international agencies and regional agencies who are specialized in this area in order to enable them to address these risks through their capacities for analysis and assessment we need early warning systems and prevention strategies i have no doubt that we are capable multiple health and natural crises the latest of which is the covert 19 crisis which has spared no one these have all confirmed once again that we must strengthen our solidarity it is necessary for us to rethink our economic financial social and health systems we must take into consideration the needs of our environment and to limit climate change and global emissions this is a shared responsibility that we all share all states in the north and in the south but these responsibilities are differentiated by the degree of our responsibility in causing climate change and the implementation of climate action cannot be unilateral we must all take part and climate action cannot come at the expense of developing states or at the expense of their right in development well-being and prosperity in conclusion i would like to reiterate the importance tunisia affords to climate issues climate change is a national priority as stipulated by our constitution we also confirm tunisia's commitment to international efforts in order to address these emerging threats that threaten international peace and security we emphasize our firm determination to continue our efforts in order to develop security council's agenda in this regard we will seek international solidarity that our unite our nations be truly united humanity can't cannot expose itself to this great risk human rights cannot be forgotten we cannot allow human rights to be violated entirely see the emissions will not spare anyone thank you very much for your kind attention well i want to thank the president of tunisia very much indeed for that excellent speech thank you your excellency and uh i'm going to hand over in a minute to uh my friend his excellency uh the president of kenya uhuru kenyatta president of kenya but before i give do give the floor to uh to uhuru i just want to say uh regrettably uh ladies and gentlemen uh colleagues dear colleagues i'm going to have to to leave after uh uru has spoken after the president of kenya because i have to go and attend to to other things here but i want to say how uh and i'll be handing over to dom rob the the foreign secretary to chair the rest of the proceedings but i just want to repeat how absolutely vital uh these are uh for us and uh i believe for the for the world but uh over to you we can't hear you president please check your microphone you need to unmute i think i think i've done so you got me great yes thank you very much um thank you very much prime minister for this opportunity your excellency antonio gutierrez our secretary general is present all protocols observe let me begin by congratulating you boris on your continued stewardship of the security council for the month of february 2021 and let me say mr president that i also welcome this high-level debate as our understanding of climate change continues to reveal its important role as a multiplier of existing threats to international peace and security the international community has responded elsewhere to the threat of climate change with ambitious solutions that are actually transforming economic development through investment that seeks to minimize environmental social as well as governance harms but i also believe as has been stated by previous speakers that to ensure that these new approaches to investment by the public and private sector reach the countries and regions worse hit by climate change i believe the start we can recognize that the persistent droughts and constant sea level rises and increasingly frequent extreme weather patterns are reversing economic gains and development gains achieved over decades the result is increased fragility increased instability that leads to armed conflict that then comes to the attention of this security council so the implementation of the council's mandate to maintain global peace and security will only get more difficult with time if climate change remains a persistent course and rather than wait for a future tipping point we must redouble our efforts today to direct our resources and multilateral frameworks of all our rule-based international orders to mitigate the effects of climate change while the bulk of this work is happening outside the security council as it should be nobody with such a strong mandate should step aside from this challenge and that is why it is one of our priorities in kenya during our term in the security council to clarify the importance of the climate and security nexus mr president the nexus is already impacting africa whose files dominate your council's agenda and in this regard i would ask you to listen to us africans when we tell you that there is a clear link that has impacted tangibly and therefore needs urgent solutions africa unfortunately will suffer the worst consequences of climate change despite being the least responsible for global greenhouse gases and projected climate changes for africa suggest a future of increased water and security decreased agricultural yields encroaching desert as well as damaged coastal infrastructure examples are bound on the consequences the drought-stricken horn of africa our part of the world the drying of the lake chad basin the shrinking sahel and savannah grasslands have worsened economic vulnerabilities and set in motion political demographic migratory dynamics that increase the threat of insurgency and violent extremism indeed i do hope that the council will listen more carefully and respond to the new innovative tools for climate related conflict prevention and resilience building that can emerge from peace building commission and the u.n framework convention on climate change and the u.n environmental program and i strongly urge these bodies to link early warning systems that map climate change hotspots to decision making tools that enable conflict prevention at national regional as well as international levels such tools include the building of a dynamic and accessible modeling at the national regional levels that allow government and the multilateral as well as private sector to deploy solutions in a security conscious forward-looking manner for such innovative work to have policy impact it will require democratized access to critical data and much more data sharing with african institutions engineers as well as researchers so mr president allow me to finish with basically two recommendations that i believe can be immediately acted upon by this council in crafted in crafting mandates for conflict resolution and post-conflict resolution we can do more to ensure that they dovetail with the efforts to deploy climate change mitigation and adaptation measures and in this regard i want to applaud the security council resolution 2349 on lake chad and 2502 in the democratic republic of congo with regard to monusco that have created measures to address the impact of climate change fragile countries experiencing armed conflict or the threat of it received little public or private investment the lack of employment and opportunity in turn as a security crisis the council and relevant u.n and international financial institutions that respond to its resolutions can help alleviate this challenge by aligning conflict resolution peacekeeping humanitarian aid post-conflict reconstruction with job creation by the domestic private sector another important and prompt action that the council can take to boost peace and security in the most fragile regions in africa is to act strongly against illicit financial outflows illicit resource exploitation terrorism financing and money laundering and in this regard mr prime minister i lord you and your government for your efforts in this regard doing so immediately boost the resources available to government to undertake climate change mitigation and offer the public services and goods needed to consolidate and protect our peace it also disrupts the negative forces who worsen the threat of climate change by making it tougher to tackle its security impact so in conclusion mr president let me affirm that kenya will remain a strong voice for africa for the global south including small island developing states in making the case for climate change and security nexus the world expects results and is looking forward to this security council to ever more effectively fulfill its mandate a growing part of that work is likely to involve the conflict impacts of climate change once again boris i want to thank you for your invitation and thank you for putting us together and i also want to thank all the members for their kind attention let's get to work let's see if we can make some progress towards this great end thank you very much thank you very much uh mr president uh uhuru uh for that that terrific uh speech thanks for your uh for your leadership your call to to work there and for making that crucial point that you know africa bears the brunt of this crisis the impact of uh climate change and yet of course uh africa of all the continents has uh probably contributed uh the least to uh the uh the global uh emissions that uh that we face so thank you very much for that uh sadly i i have to uh i have to depart but i'm leaving you in the excellent hands of the uh of the foreign secretary who is about to appear foreign please go ahead hello everyone um i've taken over seamlessly from uh my prime minister and without further ado i will now give the floor to his excellency minister bridgie raffini prime minister of niger i'm going to see you have the floor thank you mr president excellencies heads of state and government i'm taking the floor in this high high-level debate of the united nations security council on behalf of the president of the republic of niger his excellency isofu muhammadu who unfortunately has not been able to join the meeting due to other commitments hence he asked me to convey to you his support and his wishes for success for this debate and i would now like to deliver to you the message that he wanted to share with you mr president heads of state and government excellencies allow me to begin by paying tribute to the united kingdom for its commitment to maintaining matters pertaining to security related to climate change on the council's agenda i would also like to thank mr antonio guterres and nisrim al-shame for their statements and their firm commitment to ensure that the impact of climate change on matters of peace and security is taken into account mr president as the secretary general and other speakers have rightly recalled the impact of climate change on peace and security is increasingly evident today it is undeniable that climate phenomena are reversing the trajectory of development and that across several regions of the world ramping up humanitarian and security crises according to a recent world bank study water scarcity exacerbated by climate change could affect economies and lead certain regions of the world such as the sahel to see a fall in gdp of around six percent it could further prompt mass population migration and spark spark conflicts in addition climate change could increase hunger and malnutrition by 20 by 2050 and push up poverty particularly for the 2.5 million small-scale producers whose livelihoods depend on the climate and its impact on their production conditions [Music] and it is in this way that in the sahel the crucible of this reality that climate change has increased competition for already diminished land pasture and water resources this has further stirred up tensions between farmers and livestock raises and has hampered efforts for peace building and development across the region mr president my first message pertains to our collective responsibility to take into account this existential challenge which entails a paradigm shift climate change and land degradation are no longer purely environmental matters they are now part of a broader view that closely links environmental goals with goals for economic and social development and in turn to our common goal which is peace stability and security across the world just as we have done for the kobit 19 pandemic we need to consider climate change as a threat to peace and security it should not be a source of division we need to work together and harder to translate our knowledge and our policies into concrete action it's therefore important to understand the causes effects and the complexity of climate change and that in order to be able to combat them all because our aim is not only to be able to manage conflicts it is our fundamental responsibility to prevent them [Music] and on this basis my second message is a call to action through an integrated and coordinated approach in the context of united nations and security council efforts increased investment in actions for prevention and early invitation intervention in fragile states could limit the combined humanitarian consequences of climate change and armed conflicts and in this regard we launched an appeal for the shoring up of the capacity of this council to understand the impact of climate change on security through the publication of a regular report of the secretary general which would include an in-depth analysis of the current and future risks as well as action-oriented recommendations i also call for these risks to be systematically taken into account in resolutions pertaining to specific contexts and situations of countries and regions because that could increase the effectiveness of peace building and peacekeeping efforts here i would like to encourage the security council to as far as possible rely on the advisory role of the peace building commission as well as the informal expert group on climate and security that is co-chaired by niger and ireland these forums just like the data that is provided to us by research institutes allows us to have a perspective over national and regional processes these are all tools to better inform the security council on the implications of climate change on peace and security moreover the appointment of a special envoy of the secretary general for climate and security we think is particularly timely to the extent that it will raise the profile and the efficiency of bearing in mind this dimension in the council's work mr president the effects of climate change know no borders we therefore all share the responsibility to manage them together to attain the sustainable development goals without better strategies for adaptation and to shore up our resilience as well as to manage and restore our natural capital responsibly climate change in africa in west africa and the sahel will continue to be an important and considerable risk factor threatening the livelihoods of populations in rural areas leading to forced migration and worsening conflicts around increasingly limited natural resources my third message goes to the importance of changing the perception related to the most regions that are most affected by climate related security risks particularly the sahel all too often the narrative and discourse on these areas is limited to challenges and vulnerabilities they overlook opportunities and the potential of these regions in terms of their natural demographic and cultural assets we do have the capacity to benefit from these opportunities through technological innovation and through the creation of sustainable employment particularly in key sectors such as energy and agriculture limited energy infrastructure populations spread across vast territories and arid climates that were all already considered as disadvantageous conditions now stand as an asset for this region they now represent an asset for this region but also for africa as a whole and this vision can become a reality provided that it is supported by robust commitment and consistent political determination that's why in africa and particularly in the sahel great hope was placed in the entry into force of the paris agreement on climate among other things this agreement led to a flagship initiative in africa that was adopted during the african summit for action in favor of a continental emergence on this matter this was a summit that was held in morocco on the margins of the cop 22. it led to the creation of three climate commissions for africa including that for the sahel region that i'm honored to chair and which brings together 17 countries to get off the ground the climate commission for the sahel region has a climate investment plan standing at around 440 billion dollars its aim is to contribute to the planetary efforts to lessen greenhouse gas emissions and to increase adaptation and resilience capacities of the sehalian populations a round table meeting was held to discuss its funding in addition we held a high-level consultative meeting on it in new york on the 22nd of september 2019 that i chaired this was a meeting that saw the participation of several dignitaries including the united nations secretary general to conclude on behalf of the climate commission for the sahel region i would like to invite each country that is a party to the united nations framework convention on climate change to fully play its part in the roles and responsibilities there in order to together succeed to reverse the course of climate change the road ahead is long and the consequences of climate inaction are all the more disastrous for current and future generations we need to move forward together and with our eyes open thank you thank you very much prime minister your excellency for highlighting in particular the crucial link between tackling climate change and sustainable economic development and regional security i now give the floor to his excellency mr nguyen fook prime minister of vietnam i'm going to have the floor mr representative of the president i upload the initiative of the uk government and yourself mr president to host this important unsc open debate on addressing climate related risk to international peace and security i would like to thank the un secretary general antonio gutierrez and the chair of the un youth advisory group nisrin and sam for your insightful and substantive information and recommendations mr president earth our blue planet and our shared home is suffering from grievous impacts of climate change 2020 was one of the three hottest years in modern history and was faced with constant and severe aftermath of floods droughts bushfires rising sea level and the unprecedented cop19 outbreak such calamities have placed great burdens on the political and socioeconomic life of many countries they have caused unemployment and poverty affected livelihood of hundreds of millions of people and risk creating instabilities and exacerbating present conflicts in many countries and regions thus threatening international peace and security in addition conflicts and instabilities would further erode countries resilience and drop them a valuable resources that could have been utilized to overcome the challenges of climate change therefore i propose that unsc with its foremost mission being the maintenance of international peace and security needs to galvanize collective and persevering efforts of the international community via the following measures first a comprehensive and balanced approach is necessary in handling the connections between traditional and non-traditional security challenges particularly in addressing the root causes of conflicts such as poverty inequality power politics and unilateral interference and person strict adherence to the un charter and international law must truly become a standard of behavior for countries in international relations second for the 2013 agenda for sustainable development and the un framework convention on climate change and the paris agreement to be effectively implemented the unsc and the international community should allocate a greater resources to support developing countries least developed countries small island developing states and landlocked countries that are most detrimentally affected by climate change and also lacking expertise and resources third i hope that you at sc will continue to enhance its early winning capacity and bolster its role in mediating preventing and resolving conflicts in all regions including through enhancing cooperation with regional organizations fourth in order to harmoniously manage connection between climate change and security is necessary to continue upholding the principles of respect for sovereignty national ownership and principal responsibilities of states the share interests of communities and peoples particularly vulnerable groups must be placed at the heart of all national and global climate action strategy and plans mr president vietnam is among the 10 countries worst hit by climate change thirds active and effective response to climate change is both a major guideline strong political resolve by the vietnamese government vietnam has made great efforts to fulfill its international commitments on climate change in this connection we support all endeavors to address climate related challenges at the unsc and other multilateral forums i hope that the international community will provide vietnam with further assistance and resources so that we can better fulfill our commitments vietnam will work closely with other asean members and support cooperation between asean and the u.n mr president the wall is burdened with the fight against covet 19 responding to the appeal of the u.n secretary general making peace with nature is defining task of the 21st century we should take bold actions and enhance international unity i'm confident that the challenges stemming from climate change can be transformed into drivers for change contributing to fostering future peace and more sustainable development for next generations thank you for your attention thank you very much your excellency uh may i now turn to give the floor to her excellency miss erner solberg prime minister of norway prime minister you have the floor thank you president and i'd like to start by thanking the united kingdom for placing this issue on the security councils agenda i would also like to thank the briefers uh the secretary general and nashville and for setting the stage and i think 2020 was the hottest year on uh record we've seen heat waves we've seen wildfires and we have seen floods affected has affected the lives of millions i think 270 million people have acute food insecurity climate shocks are key drivers to this if you look at the sahel climate change affects ecosystems and livelihoods increased competition over scarce resources fuels these conflicts in somalia and the lake chad climate impacts have enabled armed groups to boost recruitment and on the horn of africa and in the middle east climate change escalates the risk of conflicts ocean warming illegal fishing and sea level rise threatens the coastal and small island nations so like the farmers in the sahel fishermens in the pacific find it difficult to maintain their livelihood the biodiversity crisis and deforestation affect security of many these are closely interlinked with climate change and can hamper peace and development so what we do is we risk a negative spiral climate change undermines the ability to cope with conflict and conflict undermines resilience to climate change president climate change is redefining the global security landscape but there is no single solution we must adapt our responses to different contexts climate change is expected to space more than 140 million people by 2050. 12 of the 20 countries most vulnerable to climate change are also dealing with violent conflict we must rethink and adapt the council approaches to peace building and sustaining peace in three ways first the council needs better information on climate related security risk international research networks and informal expert groups will be important here to support our work nova has engaged nupi and the separate to establish a nordic baltic expert network and we fully support the work of the climate security mechanism so i actually call for regular reports by the secretary general to the council a special representative on climate and security should also be important climate risks must con be considered in all prevention peacekeeping and peace building activities this goes for the security council but also for the member states the new and secretariat and of course the leadership of un operations second the security council should discuss climate risk in specific country contexts based on country reporting and briefings the un must be at the forefront of preventive diplomacy achieve sustainable solutions our peace diplomacy must be climate sensitive and our climate action must be conflict sensitive third we must strengthen our partnerships within and beyond the un system we must partner closely with affected states and regional organizations and ensure the active participation of diverse groups including women and youth so president the national security communities in many countries have understood the security risks posed by climate change while climate change can lead to hard security challenges there are no hard security solutions our first line of defense is ambitious climate action it must begin with the full implementation of the paris agreement and agenda 2030. climate action depends on multilateral cooperation and we must invest in the ability of communities to adapt and respond to climate shocks and crisis this will reduce risks and in turn break the cycle of short-term responses shifting to more sustainable solutions we have a common responsibility to counter climate change and to maintain peace and security especially for common generation i firmly believe that the u.s security council will play an important role in these efforts by doing so the council will be better prepared to maintain international peace and stability so thank you for highlighting uh the very real impacts that we see all around us today from our oceans to our forests and the need to take a long-term sustainable approach i now give the floor to his excellency mr ralph gonzalez prime minister and minister for foreign affairs of saint vincent and the grenadines prime minister you have the floor mr president excellencies distinguished colleagues sin vincent in the grenadines commence the united kingdom for this opportunity to address climate-related security risks we applaud your continued dedication and leadership in this matter particularly ahead of cop26 i also thank the briefers for their insightful remarks on this vital subject as the primary organ for maintaining peace and security the security council has a responsibility to address the consequences of climate change in line with its mandate failure to tackle the debilitating aspects through the lens of peace and security means in part an abdication of our duty as such it is time for this council to consider seriously a draft resolution on the matter and to map out a coherent approach aiming for a working consensus we reaffirm that united nations for remote convention on climate change is the primary body dealing with climate change and the paris agreement is a major component of our rules-based international system at the same time we recognize the united nations security council that it has a role to play without encroaching on the work of the inclusive decision-making body of the unfccc similarly we must engage with the peace building commission and the general assembly to address effectively climate and security risks across the gender of issues touching and concerning humanitarian support sustainable development health pandemics peace and security sin vincent and the grenadines reiterates that the first step to prevent or contain climate security risks is for the major and historical emitters to fulfill and indeed exceed the commitments made in the paris agreement global action must be accelerated to keep temperatures below 1.5 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels in line with our common but differentiated responsibilities indeed we have gathered around this virtual table those who can have the most impact in preventing climate fuel conflict by rationally and comprehensively reducing emissions and by upholding financial commitments towards adaptation measures separate and apart from already agreed official development aid obligations climate change is an existence existential challenge to us all but it continues to affect disproportionately the most vulnerable among us including small islands and conflict affected countries as a small island developing states and vincent and grenadines knows all too well the impact of increasingly intense climatic shocks due to unique vulnerabilities and structural rigidities and fragilities in our caribbean region it has become in distressingly commonplace for an entire year's gdp to be washed away by a hurricane overnight even as we are hindered by a lack of sufficient access on favorable terms to the global financial architecture our fellow islanders in low-lying states are faced with a clear and present existential threat which poses significant concerns for sovereignty and by extension international peace we stand in solidarity with conflict-affected countries where climate change exacerbates food insecurity and humanitarian crises stokes conflicts over resources finds the flames of political turmoil and creates significant socio-economic challenges our sister island haiti is among the most susceptible to the impacts of increasingly intense and frequent climatic hazards these natural disasters hit haiti very hard partly due to the felon of its forest the misuse and abuse of woodland resources and the requirement to pay externally imposed debts another awful example is the sahel which many of the speakers before me have addressed we will not see an end to the complex cycles of conflict without striking at the heart of the battle for dwindling resources amidst climate change and drought it is evident that among the major contemporary drivers of global insecurity is the bundle of issues arising from the impacts of climate change absolutely no country escapes the consequences attendant there too there are solutions to these man-made crises in order to address effectively these complex situations we must integrate climate perspectives into the council's work to this end we support enhanced reporting by the secretary general on the relevant issues decision making on the basis of climate risk data the appointment of a special envoy on climate and security for the training of united nations personnel to deal with the security implications of climate change and the incorporation of climate advisors in peacekeeping missions in crafting its mandates the security council should also pay close attention to what respective governments of conflict affected areas outlined as their principal climate security challenges and approaches including in their nationally determined contributions and national adaptation plans further the recent establishment of an informal expert group on climate and security comprised of security council members is a very promising development of which sin vincent and grenadines is proud to be a part it is time for the security council to rise to the extern challenges associated with climate related security risks in this the 76 years of our united nations climate change has rendered obsolete the traditional approaches to managing conflicts today the un charter and the future of all humanity demand more of us i think we will rise to the challenges thank you thank you your excellency uh in particular for reinforcing the role and remit of the un security council and your very practical series of uh policy recommendation measures can i now turn and give the floor to her excellency miss kaya kalas prime minister of estonia i'm going to see you have before thank you mr president secretary general let's by thanking the united kingdom for convening this meeting at such a high level i hope that does not need any more convincing that climate change poses a real threat including to our shared security the world surely needs leaders to shape concrete actions plans and targets and carry them through in order to fight the climate change we warmly welcome the united states back to the paris climate agreement and stand ready to cooperate in every possible way in this field i am proud to say that the european union is leading the way our commitment to reaching climate neutrality by 2050 will soon be written into law and our every step will be geared towards meeting this goal by 2050 we aim to achieve climate neutrality as a national target as well although critically important this was not an easy decision to make and not at least for estonia where energy production has traditionally relied on our national resource oil shale a fossil fuel however my government is firmly committed to contributing to global efforts we have established a clear timeline for phasing out oil shale by 2040. and the overlap between climate and security challenges was made painfully clear during a public discussion of this council last july seven out of the ten countries most vulnerable and least prepared to deal with the climate change hosts a u.n peacekeeping operation or a special political mission the member states of the un security council cannot ignore this nexus between climate and security any longer today the german foreign minister mr mas will present proposals by like-minded countries for the way forward in the u.n security council we fully support his message we need to acknowledge that the climate emergency can pose a danger to peace and we must make it part of our security policy planning and discussions here this council must do more to fully understand climate-related security risks and integrate these knowledge into all aspects of its work the secretary general of the united nations needs to receive a mandate to collect data and coordinate policy to the same as always we must not lose sight of the most vulnerable we know how women and children suffer in conflicts but the research confirms that women and girls are also disproportionately affected by climate change we must help to empower women we must direct resources to local women's groups at the front lines of climate change we must recognize that women have an equal right to access use and control land and resources this is the way to build resilient communities not only for women but for everyone estonia has chosen to cooperate with some small islands and least develop countries in green technology solutions and know-how transfer we have supported adaptation and emergency communication systems in pacific region drinking water monitoring systems in the granada island river basin and the development of solar energy solutions for rural areas in myanmar but in addition to individual projects we need to join to have joint actions at the global level the kobe 19 crisis has taught us that the emergencies do not respect borders however borders are quick to close even for data for an effective policy we need more than just correct data we also need to be able to share it and use it this means that data needs to be globally comparable accessible and interoperable and we need political leadership that is why estonia has recently launched a new cooperation initiative we are proposing the data for the environmental environment alliance the deal the deal will be coalition of state and non-state actors who will support the united nations environment program in developing a global environmental data strategy by 2025 it also aims to improve national data management capacities across the globe i hope that everybody including this council can see the value of high standard modern data management i thank you all who have already shown interest dear colleagues there is no doubt that climate change is making the world a more dangerous place who else then the u.n security council needs to pay two attention to this and build the momentum before cop 26. thank you thank you very much uh excellency for that invaluable contribution and i will now turn and give the floor to his excellency mr simon coveny minister for foreign affairs and defense of ireland simon you have the floor thank you very much dominic and let me start by congratulating you and the united kingdom on your presidency of the council and for hosting this very important debate at such a high level i'd like also to thank uh secretary general gutierrez for his remarks and his leadership on this issue and of course i want to thank the briefer uh nisserine alzheim for her important testimony through a lifetime's work david attenborough has brought into our homes the wonder but also the vulnerability of our planet's rich biodiversity a common heritage and we owe it to future generations to protect and preserve it climate change is the defining challenge of our generation unaddressed it will impact every part of our planet no aspect of our societies will be untouched we need urgent urgent and collective action by all pillars of the multilateral system including this council if we are to meet this challenge how we respond today will determine our shared future tomorrow and we all have a role to play ireland along with the rest of the eu will not be found wanting ireland will transition to a net zero economy by 2050. my country like all others is already feeling the impact of climate change we are taking mitigation actions but these actions alone will not safeguard our future and we know that as prime minister johnson has said we must scale up our investments in adaptation and resilience if we are to protect the poorest and most vulnerable from the effects of climate change especially in least developed countries and small island developing states countries like ireland that have the means have a responsibility to act first in doing so we must consider the quality of our climate finance as we work to increase its quantity in this regard in the lead up to cop 26 and beyond we must listen to and be guided by the voices of those most affected by climate change particularly those in least developed countries and in small island developing states but we must also go beyond listening and promote the critical role of these countries in decision-making processes on climate in this vein we've been pleased to work closely with the uk on the adaptation and resilience agenda through the life ar initiative this initiative led by least developed countries aims to sustainably increase the proportion of climate finance that reaches the local level for vital adaptation activities from an estimate estimated 10 today to 70 by 2030. mr president urgent action is needed to combat to combat the effects of climate change on our environment and on our complex global ecosystem we looked we looked forward to the top 26 negotiations in glasgow later this year where we hope real progress can be made building on the achievements of the paris climate agreement climate change has many complex impacts uh not least on international peace and security the very business of this council this is the core of our debate today it's clear that climate change is already causing upheaval upheaval affecting people and security and stability of societies across the world this is the testimony we hear daily from around the world from small island states from african partners from regions affected by devastating forest fires or floods we have seen in the sahel particularly in the countries around lake chad how conflict and climate combined to diminish the availability of and access to natural resources this amplifies tensions between farmers and others which in turn causes and triggers violence across the horn of africa the multiple and repeated shocks of drought and flooding under community resilience and livelihoods creating drivers which armed groups exploit for influence and recruitment this council has mandated peacekeeping missions in eight of the 15 countries most susceptible to climate risk and if that doesn't send us a message i'm not sure what will mr president the relationship between climate and security works in complex ways political instability undermines efforts to build climate resilience and the impact of climatic shocks is compounded when institutions are strained or broken we need to address these linkages between climate and security and peace as part of our conflict prevention and peace building efforts and responsibilities on this council and we need to further build on our collective understanding of these linkages to enable us to take effective action ireland is proud to join the weathering risk project to help guide our action on the security council and beyond we're keen to understand better not just how climate change contributes to insecurity but how climate action can build peace and to use this understanding as we prioritize climate and security during our time on the council we're chairing the informal expert group of member states on this topic together with najir this group provides a vital platform for sharing information on the why and how of climate action in the context of building and sustaining peace will partner with uh naru and germany as chairs of the group of friends of climate security while the council must take action it's essential to work with the wider community of nations as we do so ireland's core message today is that the inclusion of climate in security council discussions and actions will strengthen conflict prevention and support peace building efforts climate action alone of course will not deliver peace we recognize that but without climate action we will have a less sustainable peace in many parts of the world ireland will take a practical and action approach we recognize that our peacekeepers are already responding to climate-related prices where climate-related security risks exist peacekeeping operations need to be underpinned by clear mandates and sufficient resources we also recognize the gender dimensions of climate change with women and girls most vulnerable to its effects but they are also critical to our response to climate change and we must ensure the full equal and meaningful participation of women in decision-making processes related to climate issues and the management of natural resources we must also engage deeply with young people who have shown solidarity and extraordinary leadership at times on climate change on a global scale but in listening to and understanding the concerns and insights of future generations we can't abrogate our responsibility to provide leadership today the world's response to the climate emergency can also be a cause for hope which is needed right now the vast majority of un member states wish to work together to ensure that we address one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced we can and must work in a way that addresses the threats of global peace and security from climate change enhancing global cooperation as we do so climate change challenges all of humanity but i'm optimistic and drawing from the words of james joyce i am tomorrow or some future day what i establish today starting afresh today let's work together this is an important year for climate action particularly in the build-up to cop26 thank you thank you very much your excellency thank you simon for that important contribution and the combination of challenge but also hope and optimism that this year can shift the dial on climate change i now give the floor to his excellency mr marcelo ebrar castlebong minister for foreign affairs of mexico [Music] thank you mexico thanks the prime minister of the united kingdom boris johnson for convening us to this debate on the effects of climate change on international peace and security the kobat 19 pandemic has shown that international security can no longer be understood solely through the lens of traditional threats the threats are multi-dimensional and are linked to challenges in terms of economic and social development it is up to this security council to respond in a timely manner to the current challenges for the maintenance of peace the secretary general repeatedly reminds us that fires floods and other extreme weather events have worsened in all regions of the world and that the risk of a possible catastrophe has increased which would mean an increase in global temperatures of more than three degrees the situation of food insecurity water scarcity droughts or floods which are aggravated by the effects of climate change have reached alarming levels in several regions but impact above all those communities that are already mired in conflict and especially women mexico believes that climate change must be addressed in a multilateral manner with a comprehensive and coherent approach throughout the united nations system mexico will spare no efforts to ensure that the next conference of the parties to the united nations framework convention on climate change to be held in glasgow is a success and can outline the actions aimed at a sustainable post-pandemic recovery we note the return of the united states to the paris agreement and their renewed commitment to a principle in which mexico has always believed multinationalism climate change requires a coordinated international response with emphasis on the conservation of ecosystems and support for mitigation and adaptation commitments and in this sense mexico has just submitted a new nationally determined contribution to comply with its country commitments as a part of the global adaptation commission mexico promotes nature-based solutions for example sustainable infrastructure that allows us to reduce economic and social inequalities mexico promotes a balance between financial resources policy-based focus and efforts towards adaptation to complement those that are geared towards mitigation for mexico adaptation is a matter of priority concern given the urgency of strengthening communities and helping the most vulnerable to face the impact of climate change in this sense prevention is a fundamental part of our policy regarding comprehensive risk management likewise mexico considers that the implementation of the sendai framework should underpin and generate synergies and be consistent with the actions undertaken within the framework of the 2030 agenda and the addis ababa action agenda among other multilateral processes thorough analysis of the main risks and their specific environment would allow the security council to identify situations and spaces in which the effects of climate change can have multiplier effects that affect international peace and security this would in turn make it possible to take preventive action to avoid or mitigate humanitarian disasters the establishment of the council's informal group to monitor the link between climate change and security is therefore timely and welcome this group with the support of the analysis carried out by the collaboration mechanism in the department of peace building and political affairs are the type of specific measures that will help us strengthen the capacities that the system needs the current covert 19 pandemic and its effects especially in the most fragile contexts has shown how pressing it is to protect people and their livelihoods and to guarantee sustainable peace building we agree with the secretary-general post-pandemic recovery is an opportunity to build back better and we must implement transformative change for all this and and beyond this mexico reaffirms its commitment to combat climate change as a priority and to work together to find global multi-dimensional and structural solutions to environmental problems to build more egalitarian more adaptable and more resilient societies thank you very much marcelo thank you very much for the important focus on multilateral efforts and your support for cop26 may i now give the floor to his excellency mr emmanuel macron president of france mr president that you have the floor merci beaucoup distinguished presidents distinguished prime ministers secretary general of the united nations ladies and gentlemen dear friends i'd like to begin by thanking boris johnson for having organized with the secretary general this meeting and also for hosting us this year in glasgow for cop 26 i think we are all aware of the importance of the agenda in a few weeks the united states will be organizing on the 22nd of april an important conference and i see the representative on the screen and i recognize the resistance shown of in light of the past four years so welcome back to the table i just wanted to share with you of those of you online some of the things that we have done in recent years we recognize that in order to protect the environment climate change is fully a peace and security issue i won't go through the entire paris agreement agenda and what we'll be discussing from april 22nd through cop 26 to safeguard the planet for future generations but clearly the link between climate and security is complex and undeniable and unavoidable beyond what has already been written out of the 20 countries most affected by conflict in the world 12 are also among the most vulnerable countries to climate change in the pacific without resolute adaptation action the inhabitants of some islands will have no other choice but to leave their land and we've learned recently in recent years about the impact of desertification the reduction in water uh the inability to have stable crops leads to conflicts the lake chad basin regent is a clear example of this there has been considerable migration uh beyond the islamic terrorist threat but much of that has been fed by forced migration due to climate change and that is the case as well for the success of boko haram in their fight for land so we see the fallout of the unmastered climate change agenda in such regions i know how committed our secretary general is to these efforts we've seen the placements of populations migration and refugees there is a growing number of refugees of climate refugees today they are the primary targets of the pandemic and of the food crisis and to some extent we can see how all of this has built up and clearly any failure on the climate front will undermine uh conflict prevention efforts and peace building efforts and that's why i fully endorse the initiative of addressing meeting these challenges in the security council under its mandate of ensuring international peace and security the council's action must be guided by the need to mitigate the effects of climate change on populations and it's fallout on the development of conflicts this action can be carried out within the framework of effective multilateral climate diplomacy we have a vast number of tools available to us but after an extreme climate event humanitarian urgent measures need to be put in place and ensure lasting rebuilding communities need to be assisted in adaptation measures to tackle sea level rise we have to help small growers to start up their economic activity quickly so that after any climate disaster on the one hand these matters should be addressed in the security council and we must fully support the appointment of a special envoy for climate security in order to coordinate all of our efforts i can only see advantages in having a report from the secretary general every year to the security council on the impact of international security and climate change in order to plan ahead to warn us and to make recommendations so that we can play our role given these threat multipliers we must shoulder our responsibilities each and every one of us in particular in three areas which we think are particularly vulnerable the multilateral agenda must be linked with the local agenda regional agendas which must be better adapted we know that climate change impact is unfairly distributed worldwide and we have to take that into account in our commitment as well i have called for france's apportion to the climate uh fund i've asked for that to be increased namely to uh fund one-third of the climate fund uh there are a number of other areas as well primarily in africa the two examples i mentioned earlier are proof of that we've seen the fallout of the link between climate and security on the 11th of january at the one planet summit so devoted to biodiversity we called for uh an acceleration of the great green wall this is an initiative which brings together 11 sahel states here and i would greet all of my friends from the sahel that i see here the goal is to restore 250 million hectares of land for agricultural purposes and to create 10 million jobs while sequestering 250 million tons of carbon that would be an outstanding contribution on the part of africa to combat climate change and global warming we are reinvesting as well ensuring good governance and we know how hard hit these countries are by the terrorist threat we will accelerate our response to protect biodiversity and to mitigate climate change and we will have a very specific instrument to combat climate change and call for peace and it it is uh within this uh this is my the mindset in africa as well i see the prime minister of norway here with us and with uh chancellor merkel they're playing a key role in these initiatives in africa which should continue to inspire us i believe that increased dialogue between the african union and the united nations would be particularly welcome so that we can better structure these instruments and link them together it's the same methodology i believe that we should use in the uh indoor specific region in that pacific region there are a number of vulnerable states we know that full well there are nation states which today will have a great deal of difficulty implementing adaptation measures to combat climate change we know that these are preconditions for peace and stability in these regions and we must support them multilaterally otherwise concern over the climate climate change will make a a a geopolitical situation even more difficult we have to have instruments policy instruments to combat uh climate change in the coming years we need to be working with these sovereign states in the region the third point is uh the agenda in the coming years this will be a geopolitical and climate agenda so let us bring together our answers to prevent climate change and global warming and let us avoid geopolitical tensions which are growing in that region i just wanted to focus on these three regions which are very specific theaters for greater involvement by the international community and there needs to be a multilateral agenda adopted by the united nations in these efforts we must also combat the scourges of the 21st century through increased unity in the security council we've seen that in in in dealing with global health and in biodiversity how necessary that unity is and it can serve as well uh in the area of climate we must join peace and security and climate increasingly we are bringing these agendas together to protect humans and rebuild effective multilateralism and the permanent members and all other members of the security council we must cooperate on this specific agenda in the years to come because it's not just about regional conflicts we understand that they may worsen although i don't think we should ever give in to that but what is at stake is our health our lives and the stability of our planet so these are the three comments i wanted to share with you and i'm convinced that the role of the united nations and the security council on this particular issue undoubtedly even more important today than they were yesterday and we are facing uh we this is a race against time uh bringing these agendas closer together and france will be fully committed to these efforts thank you thank you so much your excellency mr president for that far-reaching contribution and your three specific focal points as well uh may i now give the floor to his excellency mr prakesh java dakar minister for the environment forest and climate change of india thank you foreign secretary of the united kingdom mr dominic rob excellencies i would like to begin my statement with the short time from our philosophy which is there in shukla yajurveda shanti antar santi this means let there be balance in space the sky the earth the water let there be growth in plants in the trees let there be grace in god and gliss in the soul let there be balance in everything and let us let such peace be with every one of us from this vedic message it is very clear that environment belongs to all living beings so it needs protection by all and for the welfare of all climate change is a defining issue of our time without drastic actions by us collectively adapting to its impacts in the future may well be impossible but definitely will not be more impossible but definitely more difficult and costlier the global community has addressed the issue of climate change through various mechanisms central to which in the unfccc and the paris agreement negotiated under this framework together they present a delicately balanced global democratic effort to take climate action in a nationally determined manner based on certain fundamental angry principles the foremost among which is common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities and which must underline all future discussions on climate change therefore before we start discussing the issue of securitization of climate we need to ensure that we are not building a parallel climate track where these mechanisms and principles are dressed aside or not duly considered mr president the 29th 2019 ipcc special report climate change in the land says that extreme weather and climatic or slow onset events may lead to increased displacements disrupted food chains threatened livelihoods and could contribute to exasperated stresses for conflict even the best science available claims that climate change only exists but its conflict and is not a reason for conflict and does not threaten peace and security there is no common widely accepted methodology for assessing the links between climate change conflict and fragility fragility and climate impact are highly context specific in addition both peace and conflict assessments as well as vulnerability assessments face significant challenges when it comes to the data availability as was mentioned earlier and impact measurement mr president in number of fragile contexts where government are struggling to provide basic services due to capacity and legitimacy issues instances of chronic emergency conditions and feminine risks are largely driven by continued political violence disrupting harvest and air supplies rather than by climate factors alone this underscores the idea that a complete picture of climate vulnerability only emerges with an assessment of states capacity to be the primary responder to interrelated environmental social economic and security dynamics the nationally determined contributions are largely about mitigation commitments and adaptation requirements that collectively determine whether the countries will achieve the paris goal of limiting global average temperature increase to well below 2 degrees parties are nowhere required to communicate on climate climate-related security risk in their indices moreover an in-depth analysis of the indices submitted in the first round has shown that member states see climate change as a risk to the well-being of their citizens and to some degree their economies but never as there is to social stability national sovereignty or the functioning of the state of the 16 countries that have submitted their updated indices to the united policy's secretary secretary by october 2020 none have framed climate change as risk to peace and stability the idea of climate change and actions should not be to move the climate ambition goal post 2050 it is important for countries to fulfill their pre-2020 commitment that is the beginning climate action needs to go hand in hand with the framework for financial technical and capacity building support to countries that need it while climate change does not directly or inherently cause violent conflict its interaction with other social political and economic factors can nonetheless exaggerate drivers of conflict and fragility and have negative impacts on peace stability and security it is not precisely this reason that developing country industries included information on adaptation activities and the need for finance technology development and transfer capacity building and transparency however while the commitment by developed countries to jointly mobilize 100 billion dollars per year by 2020 in support of climate action in developing countries has been central to the climate accord since 2009 the delivery on this commitment has been elusive mr president the impacts of climate change and its associated security risks have important gender dimensions women and girls experience the interplay between climate change and peace and security in direct and profound ways since women are often provided for the food water and energy for their families they are likely to face increased challenges in accessing resources due to climate change as the primary caregivers women are often living on the front lines of climate change and has distinct knowledge and experience to contribute to building effective adaptation strategies there is an urgent need to promote and support the meaningful participation of women and marginalized groups in the national level climate change policy and planning processes mr president india has taken significant steps to fight climate change and we have delivered on our commitments our mitigation strategies have emphasized on clean and efficient energy systems safe smart and sustainable green mass urban transport network planned afforestation integrating green thinking across all production and consumption sectors india is only country on track among the g20 nations to meets with climate change mitigation commitments we are not only meeting our paris agreements targets but will exceed them india currently has the fastest growing solar energy program in the world we have expanded access to clean cooking fuel to over 80 million households this is among the largest clean energy drives globally our recent commitment of installing 450 gigawatts of renewable energy elimination of single-use plastic 100 railway electrification and creation of an additional thing by this restoring 26 million acres of degraded land among other majors have only added to our climate ambitions india strongly believes that the only way to generate persistent long-term and positive action in the climate change domain is through partnerships by undertaking collective action to make a lasting and sustainable impact the international solar alliance and the coalition for disaster resilience infrastructure are two such initiatives by india that have been launched to addressing the challenges of climate change and adaptation mr president there is a significant opportunity for countries to integrate low carbon development in their kovid 19 rescue and recovery measures and long-term mitigation strategies that are scheduled to be announced for the reconvene 26th session of cop in 2021 to better integrate climate change adaptation and peace building we have we would suggest the building of robots governance structure at the local national and regional levels to address climate and fragility related risks this not only improves public perception of government legitimacy but also show some capacity of states to address climate risks before they become fragile donor countries should provide greater financial technological and capacity bending assistance to help fragile states to put in place necessary adaptation and mitigation strategies to combat the impact of climate change mahatma gandhi once said that there is enough for everybody's need but not for everybody's greed let us then make the transition to a more climate friendly lifestyle by adapting to a low carbon development pathway based on our needs and not on our greed let us view climate change as a wake-up call and an opportunity to stronger multilateralism and seek equitable and inclusive solutions to live a greener cleaner and sustainable world for our future generators for be at peace may no one suffer from illness may all see what is auspicious may no one suffer please peace peace peace i thank you mr president thank you your excellency uh for you for that powerful contribution um and amongst the many different things you're doing for india's efforts on solar and disaster relief i now turn to give the floor to his excellency mr john kerry u.s special presidential envoy for climate just care you have the floor mr president thank you very much uh foreign secretary rabb uh great to see you and and thank you to prime minister johnson for convening this essential discussion and of course for your leadership and partnership as we all prepare for cop26 i also want to thank secretary general antonio gutierrez for sounding the alarm on the climate crisis every chance that he gets and monsieur president macron and prime minister sober thank you for the incredible leadership of europe during what can only be deemed by many of us as an inexcusable absence by our country from this debate we're grateful for europe stepping up i'm really pleased to have a privilege of speaking before the security council today and i thank all of my colleagues those who have contributed uh and my counterpart in india minister javed thank you for your important reminder of the larger issues that are at stake here i think it's particularly important we are before the security council because the climate crisis is indisputably a security council issue our pentagon has for years described the impact of climate as a threat multiplier in fact it is among the most complex and compelling security issues that i think we've ever faced we're told repeatedly that it is an existential threat and yet despite impacts that can exacerbate existing political social and economic tensions we honestly have yet as a world to respond with the urgency required when farmers and others have mentioned this can no longer make a living because the weather is so extreme and unpredictable they become increasingly desperate when people already impoverished lose water and the heat drives them from their homes as it is the embers of conflict burn brighter and faster studies warn us that hundreds of millions of people could be uprooted not only can mass migration drive humanitarian crisis but we also know that if it's not managed well it undermines peace and stability so it is vital to discuss this issue here in the un security council because when we talk about the climate crisis we are talking about our security every nation every citizen economic security food security energy security and yes even physical security the evidence the science is screaming at us but just as humans have made the choices that brought us here we can make the choices that take us to a better place we can build resilience we can even adapt to many of the projected impacts the sad reality is that if you look at a map of the most fragile states in the world and you overlay that with a map of those most vulnerable to devastating climate impacts you can see exactly how much overlap there is many of the regions where we're focused on peace building and conflict prevention are projected to be the literal hot spots in the coming crisis and we know as miss el saleem powerfully described that conflict and the climate crisis are linked in places like sudan and so many others we simply cannot ignore how climate is affecting these regions on the contrary climate impacts need to be reflected in every aspect of this body's decision making and field reporting the good news is that even as we work to build resilience around the world and adapt to the climate consequences that are already inevitable it is still possible to stave off the very worst impacts of the crisis president biden knows that we don't have a moment to waste which is why he moved to rejoin the paris agreement just hours after being sworn into office and it is why he has directed a coordinated whole of government approach to address the climate crisis to elevate the issue as a national security priority and to put america on an irreversible path to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 or earlier and i emphasize irreversible by any president by any demagogue of the future but no one country can solve the climate crisis on its own it is exactly the kind of challenge the united nations was created to address we will all have to work together just as we did in paris to set bold and achievable targets and clear road maps for how we will reach them it is not enough to have some outlying 30-year from now target and pretend that we've done our job every country will have to step up and raise ambition and the fact is that the 17 major emitters of the world bear responsibility to the rest of the world to reduce their emissions and that begins by reducing the use of coal on a global basis nothing less than bold action in this decade can set the entire world on a path that we have confidence we'll get to net zero emissions by 2050 or earlier and that is the only way science tells us we can keep alive the possibility of limiting this planet's warming to 1.5 degrees celsius why is that so critical because overwhelming evidence tells us that anything more will have catastrophic implications around the globe and for those who argue that climate action is just too expensive study after study confirms that now at this moment in our history inaction comes with a far higher price tag than action unlike most security threats addressing the climate crisis actually presents the greatest economic opportunity in modern history not since the industrial revolution has there been such potential to build back better in every corner of the world and sadly not doing so will leave us in a position where we are just by inadvertence by lack of will a lack of coming together marching forward in what is almost tantamount to a mutual suicide pact the leaders summit that president biden will host on earth day will be a critical moment to advance our shared goals and we're planning on taking advantage of every opportunity we have in the coming months to work all of us together in addressing the many facets of this crisis and in november we will join with the rest of the world to convene in glasgow for the u.n climate conference excuse me cop 26. i am convinced it is literally our last best hope to get on track and to get this right in the meantime here in the united nations security council the united states will work closely with our like-minded colleagues to focus the security council's attention on the climate crisis and its consequences on international peace and security in that vein we congratulate ireland in assuming the co-chairmanship with the chair of the informal expert group on climate and security we are eager to engage with the ieg and advance its goals my friends given the journey that many of us have been on since rio in 1992 we are now compelled to do more than talk about climate-related security risks we have to work together to understand them before they wreak havoc we have to develop stronger early warning systems we have to mainstream the climate crisis into every aspect of our public and private sector and decision making and in the face of climate fuel challenges we have to make certain that cooperation not conflict is the response of first resort some argue that climate change isn't the business of the u.n security council well we could only wish that that were true but the fact is the climate threat is so massive so multi-faceted that it's impossible to disentangle it from other challenges that the security council faces we bury our heads in the sand at our own peril it is time to start treating the climate crisis like the urgent security threat that it is this is literally the challenge of all of our generations thank you thank you so much your excellency for that powerful contribution great to have you and the us back in the paris agreement uh now may i give the flaw to his excellency mr xi a gen hua china special envoy for climate change so you have the floor mr president mr secretary general excellencies china welcomes prime minister boris johnson's chairing of today's open debate and thanks secretary general antonio guterres for his briefing and his remarks china climate change has become a pressing and serious threat to the survival development and security of humankind the paris agreement reached in 2015 a milestone in global climate governance has laid the institutional foundation for stronger climate action and global cooperation by the international community beyond 2020 now global climate governance has entered a crucial stage of fully implementing the paris agreement yet continued spread of covet 19 has posed a serious challenge to global climate response china hopes that the international community enhances solidarity and works together to keep global climate response to the right direction to this end i wish to propose the following first we need to resolutely implement international consensus global climate governance remains a long and arduous task its centerpiece is the full and effective implementation of the paris agreement to fulfill the target set and jointly meet the climate challenge given the differences of developed and developing countries in historical responsibility stage of development and response capacity it is important to observe the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities fairness and respective capabilities and respect and support countries in identifying their nationally determined contributions in light of one's own conditions rather than follow a one-size-fits-all approach developed countries shall fulfill the obligation of leading emissions reductions and honor their commitments by providing more financial and technical support to help developing countries to build capacity developing countries should also take proactive climate action to the best of their ability second we need to actively promote green recovery covet 19 is a fresh reminder that human kind must respect nature and follow the law of nature as we build back from the pandemic we should avoid the old path of taking without giving growing without protecting exploiting without restoring we must vigorously develop new energy green and environmental industries and pursue innovative innovations that spur green and low carbon transformation we should foster ecosystems that respect nature protect global biodiversity and firm up the defense for global ecological security we need to champion a green lifestyle to promote harmony between men and nature third we need to vigorously pursue sustainable development climate change is in essence a development issue sustainable development holds the master key to solving all problems and eliminating the root causes of conflicts the international community should help the countries in conflict regions least developed countries and small island developing states to build capacity for development countries are encouraged to make climate response part of their economic and social development plans and take multi-pronged measures for parallel and coordinated progress in economic growth poverty reduction job creation health promotion ecological conservation and climate response fourth we need to stay committed to multilateralism we humans are in one community with a shared future in face of the climate challenge international climate cooperation should be advanced with the un framework convention on climate change as a main channel and under the framework of the unfccc and the paris agreement the unfccc secretariat the un development system and resident coordinators need to based on their respective mandates actively respond to the needs of relevant countries in tackling climate change and promoting economic and social development and provide support accordingly any role the security council place on climate change needs to be needs to fall within the council's purview mr president mr secretary general china played a major part in the conclusion of the paris agreement it is also making active efforts to implement it we are committed to fulfilling our due responsibilities last september president xi jinping announced that china will aim to have co2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060 a commitment widely applauded by the international community at the climate ambition summit last december president xi jinping outlined a series of new measures concerning china's ndcs devel in developed countries have mostly scheduled a 50 to 60 year time frame to move from carbon peaking to carbon neutrality china is prepared to make painstaking efforts and achieve it in 30 years this is a testament to the intensity and ambition of china's climate action we are committed to green development in 2020 china's carbon intensity was slashed by 48.4 from the level of 2005. china's ndc base year and by the end of 2019 non-fossil fuel accounted for 15.3 percent of its primary energy consumption the country had met its 2020 targets ahead of schedule china's foreign stock has been rising for 30 years in a row up by 4.5 billion cubic meters over the 2005 level and exceeding the 2020 target china now has the largest number of new energy vehicles in the world and for many years has been a global leader of renewable energy in the number of patents investment in stored capacity and power generation china's winged and photovoltaic installed capacities both account for more than 30 percent of the world's total we are committed to win-win cooperation china has launched the international coalition for green development on the belton road in collaboration with the united nations environment program to help belton road partner countries to develop renewable energy projects including hydro wind and photovoltaic power china has also worked with other developing countries under south south cooperation framework to build low carbon demonstration zones and undertake migration and adaptation projects in pursuit of green development china will host cope 15 of the convention on biological diversity this year we look forward to discussing with all other parties new strategies for post 2020 global biodiversity governance mr president mr secretary general we are convinced that when all countries come together for the full and effective implementation of the paris agreement for a win-win equitable and balanced climate governance system and for sustainable development we will be able to turn our planet earth into an open inclusive clean and beautiful place that enjoys lasting peace universal security and common prosperity thank you thank you your excellency and for that wide-ranging contribution and your explanation of china's ambition with its nationally determined contribution can i now give the floor to the representative of the russian federation you have the floor your excellency the president we thank the secretary-general mr gutierrez and our other briefers for their briefings climate change is one of the contemporary global challenges that humanity is facing overcoming its impact requires a coordinated and comprehensive approach by the international community targeted not only at reducing greenhouse gas emissions but also at implementing effective adaptation measures work is going on including an expert level within the specialized forum of the un system first and foremost along the lines of the united nations framework convention on climate change and is a key component of common efforts to achieve sustainable development we we welcome the decision of the united states to return to the paris agreement mr president the security council has already discussed climate change a number of times in the context of its influence on international peace and security our agenda includes the example of a number of countries and regions first and foremost in africa where climate change and natural disasters are presented as a fundamental threat to stability and as the root cause of problems we are also told that there are increasing risks of conflict arising and these scenarios are projected into a global context we agree that climate change and environmental issues can exacerbate conflict but are they really the root cause of these conflicts there are serious doubts about this firstly the connection between the climate and conflicts can be looked at with regard to only certain countries and regions talking about this in general terms and in a global context has no justification and imposing such a connection on an automatic basis would even be dangerous in addition by no means all conflicts are threats to international peace and security as considered by the council secondly considering the climate the root cause of security issues is a distraction from the true root causes and this means it also leads us down the wrong path in looking to solutions to these problems thirdly we cannot ignore other fundamental factors that have not a lesser but rather a greater influence on increasing risk i'm thinking about political and socio-economic conditions in specific countries and regions which today are worsened by the coronavirus pandemic the disease has significantly exacerbated inequalities between states and inside them it's provoked an upswing in poverty and hunger and in particular in countries that were already in conflict the illegal unilateral limiting measures by some countries have also exacerbated these issues and those who have done so would prefer to ignore that fact in exempting climate issues country donors are often diverting away from the comprehensive character of the challenges to sustainable development among these in particular include the refusal to exchange technologies and also green protectionism would it not be better for country donors to concentrate on complying with the financial commitments they have already entered into and to guarantee access to the best technologies to increase resilience and adaptation and also to help implement education projects on the climate this comprises the preventive approach on the basis of a balanced consideration of the three dimensions of the 2030 agenda it is true that discussing climate issues within the security council is seen as somehow beneficial and even politically important but the real work on improving coordination of international activities in this area would be sensibly better done in the specialized fora such as the un's general assembly the economic and social council and the executive boards of the different funds and as well as the framework convention on climate change returning to climate change in the context of international peace and security we must recall the thesis that conflicts in themselves reduce possibilities for states to increase their resilience and to adapt to the consequences of climate change that is because they divert already scarce resources recently a particular region has been used as an illustrative example of how climate change has a direct influence on stability and that is the sahel however we mustn't forget the reasons which led to the rapid upswing of security risks here among these are the willful activities of a number of countries which have led to regime change in libya and the consequences for the environment of the nato airstrikes including on facilities involved in the oil industry this is an example of how the environment is sacrificed to geopolitics we could provide many such examples mr president the russian federation shares the need to provide a rapid response to climate change but this should be done within the framework of the mechanisms where this is dealt with by professionals it is important to concentrate on the effective implementation of the commitments met at international level within the paris agreement and to gradually increase their ambition at the same time we must also keep up global and national efforts on the broad front of fighting socio-economic issues in the interest of achieving sustainable development including in the context of the recovery following the pandemic thank you thank you very much representative of the russian federation can i now give the floor to his excellency mr lazarus lazarus mccarthy chagwera president of mali sorry president of malawi mr president you have the floor thank you very much mr president thank you for ably representing the right honourable prime minister and chair of uh corp 26 mr boris johnson secretary general members of the steering committee and excellencies and colleagues it's an honor to address you on behalf of the least developed countries and so let me begin by thanking the right of honourable boss johnson for inviting us to these deliberations for us as ldcs building resilience to mitigate security risks must begin with reflections on the copy 19 pandemic not only has it exacerbated those risks in all sectors of our societies but in our quest to fight it we have relegated many other development priorities which threatens the attainment of sustainable development goals in ldcs while reflecting on the effects of such unforeseeable sharks we must also re consider the causal or catalyst role that climate change plays in their occurrence the nexus between climate change and security takes many forms but its impact is indiscriminate and consequential impacts like water scarcity desertification and cyclones will intensify competition for resources and create climate change refugees fleeing conflicts occasioned by those things and sadly ldc's bear the brunt of these phenomena despite only a meeting 0.34 metric ton per capita of co2 30 times lower than emissions from high income countries projections by the world economic outlook of the imf indicated 5.5 world output growth by 2021. 2.3 higher than that of all disease in sub-saharan africa worsening extreme poverty and existing inequalities don't get me wrong excellencies ldc's welcome all discussions on climate security but we must also insist that concrete solutions be found for enhancing climate adaptation and resilience for the most vulnerable countries so for as ldcs we submit the following for your consideration in that regard number one since the immediate task at hand is recovery from coffee 19 pandemic it must be aligned with the goal to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees celsius pursuant to the paris agreement number two we commend the united states for joining the paris climate accord but existing commitments from development developed countries and advanced developing countries to cut co2 emissions are woefully inadequate we therefore call on them to approach the 26 conference of parties ceo p26 with more ambitious commitments number three the un adaptation finance gap report estimates that by 2030 adaptation costs would be around 140 to 300 billion u.s dollars per annum this demands increasing both the scale of climate finance including finance for adaptation and loss and damage and its accessibility developed countries must therefore fulfill their commitments to provide 100 billion dollars in climate financing annually in a predictable manner and answer our call for 50 of funding under the green climate fund to be earmarked for adaptation and 50 of adaptation finance to be allocated to the ldcs and small island developed states we want a binding commitment for these targets of cop 26 at cop26 and the fifth u.n conference on ldcs and we trust the security council will promote this number four we commend the reforms by the global climate fund to make disbursements of finances timely and approval of eligible projects easier however since past reports showed that less than a fifth of climate financing benefited local communities in ldcs we urge that all agencies responsible for disbursements rectify this anomaly five developed countries should actively and meaningfully transfer climate-friendly technologies to help ldcs build their capacity for adaptation and mitigation and accelerate green development in closing let me assure you excellencies that our commitment as ldc is to deliver climate resilient development by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050 remains intact in line with the ldc initiative for effective adaptation and resilience life ar we therefore look forward to further engagement on these matters ahead of and during upcoming events like cop26 in glasgow this coming november and the ldc5 in doha in january of 2022 i therefore thank the un for supporting the preparatory african regional review meeting for ldc's presently hosted by my country i thank you all for your attention thank you so much mr president and can i now give the floor to his excellency mr gaston alfonso brown prime minister and minister for finance and corporate governance of antigua and barbuda the prime minister have the floor thank you foreign secretary distinguished colleagues ladies and gentlemen i have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the alliance of small island states eosis excellencies make no mistake about it climate change is existential threat to our own survival is not a future consideration by the current reality climate change and its adverse effects are threats to peace and security across the globe the ever-increasing frequency and severity of tropical cyclones droughts sea level rise desertification all account for the displacement of populations and our drivers for national and international conflicts worldwide for the past 30 years eosis has been the single most consistent advocate on climate over that span of time we have pressed for ambitious action through the united nations framework convention and climate change its coyote protocol and its paris agreement which remain today the primary international forum for determining the global response to climate change as chair of eosis i want to highlight the often overlooked threats faced by our small island developing states sids specifically in fragility and more particularly our vulnerability excellencies for sids our peace and security can be decimated on multiple fronts sometimes at a moment's notice whether it be sea level rise devouring our primary coastal and low-lying communities and territories or more severe and frequent droughts and ocean acidification literally on the mining of water supply and food security or even more severe and frequent tropical cyclones rendering our states uninhabitable on the latter front this was not a hypothetical issue hypothetical issue for my country our experience evacuating the citizens and residents of our sister island barbuda in the aftermath of hurricane irma was nothing short of devastating with a slight shift the hurricane would have decimated antigua as well resulting in carnage similar to the consequences of war in hindsight i started to think what would have happened to the entire population of my country and what international plan and system would my country have recourse to in the aftermath of such an attack to our peace and security all said continue to live through constant assaults from climate change that undermine our peace and security these include economic security energy water and food security national security territorial integrity our people's right to self-determination and state sovereignty as a result my fellow sids leaders and i are forced to govern in extremely challenging circumstances caused by climate change among other factors excellencies compounding these challenges is the international response to the root cause of these threats against sids against peace and security which is fragmented and quite frankly inadequate sids have observed a glaring gap in the international community's pursuit for the widest possible cooperation by all countries for an effective and appropriate response as a particularly vulnerable constituency that contributes to climate change we take this opportunity to remind states that we all have common but differentiated responsibilities to address climate change its adverse effects and associated loss and damage in our work without an equitable coordinated and sufficient global response leaves sids with gross uncertainties in relation to our population's lives and livelihoods excellencies this is not to say sids do not see the value in preventative action on the contrary we understand and continue to engage in adaptation actions as a means of preparing for the negative impacts of climate change this is done to the greatest extent possible with the limited resources at our disposal the pursuit of climate resilience is of the utmost importance to us and there is considerable need for support from developed countries through grant and concessional financing capacity building and technology technology transfer to achieve this resilience furthermore on preventative action we cannot ignore the crucial necessity for all state parties to submit and more importantly implement ambitious equitable and evidence-based nationally determined contributions in line with the goals of the 2015 paris climate accord it is of paramount importance that all state parties reaffirm their unequivocal commitment to uphold the paris agreement and to take bold and decisive action to enhance their climate ambitions to achieve carbon neutrality excellencies in light of the covet-19 pandemic and its exposure of the whole range of compounding risk which can exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and challenges including climate change we wish to stress that environmental accountability and the safeguarding of our natural heritage is crucial to our common humanity and the survival of our planet there are nevertheless scientific limits that sids can adapt to as an international community we must simultaneously plan and operationalize a system to address inevitable loss and damage which uproots sids peace and security this calls in us to provide equitable solutions that are in line with countries international obligations and rights to systematically address difficult issues such as climate change displacement including the treatment of climate refugees and displaced persons and loss of territory having a truly international plan and the system for addressing these climate change related disruptors to international peace and security will allow for its continued maintenance acknowledging that we live in an interconnected global economy this organized and coordinated approach will benefit all is concerned by providing some level of certainty on the required global response i'm very aware that these are difficult topics but on this matter i must ask if not us who if not now when on that note i commend united kingdom in the presidency of the united nations security council for the event of february for organizing this high-level open debate and climate-related risk to international peace and security it is of utmost importance that we continue addressing this problem climate change demands inclusive governance solutions that involves adjusting all norms and incorporating new ideas as climate change continues to threaten peace and security sids are asking for all hands on death we therefore encourage the security council to continue to host high level open on climate security discussions that are inclusive of un member states scientists academia and certainly civil society in addition we would like to see the development of an inclusive u.n membership driven climate security risk assessment tool that is both preventative and reactive to climatic events finally mr president for the past 30 years small island and low-lying states have been sending the sos distress signal we are losing our territories our populations resources and very existence due to climate change the world is also facing this threat and it is not by weapons but by this invisible enemy climate change that we all agree is real sadly sits to be on the front line of this war our appeal for the council is to take this threat very seriously before it is too late thank you distinguished ladies and gentlemen thank you so much prime minister for your contribution and the particular insight and i will now give the floor to his excellency heiko mas federal minister for foreign affairs of germany i go you have the floor mr president excellencies it is my honor to address the council on behalf of the 54 members of the group of friends on climate and security a broad and diverse group of countries from all continents we are united by a common concern climate change is the existential threat of our times last year was once again the hottest year on record we are witnessing storms draws and flooding like never before decreated ecosystems and the loss of species threaten food security and our long-term survival the poorest and most vulnerable will suffer the most because fragile countries and disproportionally affected by climate change and entire islands nations are risk of disappearing ladies and gentlemen the use of the world is demanding action we are putting their future their safety their well-being and their health at risk if we don't act i think prime minister johnson for showing leadership and i can assure you you can count on our support ahead of on of cop 26 in glasgow and we are delighted to welcome the united states back on the paris agreement we look forward to the new administration's re-engagement many countries as well as the european union have been raising their level of ambition over the last months but more needs to be done to make cup 26 a real success mr president we need concerted effort by the entire united nations system to make climate action its top priority and i thank antonio guterres for his leadership on this the evidence is clear the effects on climate change fuel or further deepen conflicts they make it harder to build peace and they negatively affect social and gender equality the united nations have a key role to play in this it can build on the progress we have already made for example with the establishment of the climate security mechanism climate and security belongs firmly on the security council agenda to reflect its primary responsibility for international peace and security some progress was made by addressing climate change in many specific mandates and by establishing the informal expert group of members of the security council but this is only the beginning last july our friends from nauru spoke here for the group of friends and presented the council with the plan of action today we are again calling for regular reporting by the secretary general on the security implications of climate change the appointment of a special representative for climate and security climate sensitive prevention mediation and peace building training for all relevant united nation personnel on the implications of climate change on peace and security and humanitarian crisis and finally for more cooperation with civil society regional and national actors on climate-related security risks last year 10 members of the security council including germany translated this plan into a draft resolution now is the moment to put a strong text back on the table and to adopt it we stand ready to work with you towards achieving a resolution that reflects the points i just outlined a strong resolution would demonstrate to the world that the security council is showing leadership on what is one of the greatest threats to peace and security of our times thank you very much thank you so much haiko for that contribution and there are no more names inscribed on our list of speakers so can i thank once again uh all the distinguished participants who have joined us today can i also thank the member states the regional groupings which have so far submitted submitted both video recordings and or written submissions on the subject of today's discussions any further written statements that are received by the end of the day will form part of the formal record and we look forward to receiving more i think it's clear that listening to all member statements that the climate-related security risks are crucial they are clear they're very present for the world today and for the security council's attention and as david attenborough said climate change is a real risk to global security that can only be dealt with by unparalleled levels of global cooperation the uk will continue to play its role working very closely with all of you and on that note the meeting is adjourned you

Channel: United Nations

Views: 48,793

Keywords: UN, United Nations, Climate and Security, Security Council, climate change, Boris Johnson, Nisreen Elsaim, António Guterres, UK

Id: T0ZV7vV6Mdc

Length: 191min 12sec (11472 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 23 2021