The Environment and Security Initiative organizes climate change and security
conference
Climate change and security in the Pan-European region was the focus of discussion at
this year’s Environment and Security Initiative (ENVSEC) Partners Meeting on 3 October
at the UN House in Brussels.
International organizations, donors, government representatives and experts debated
ways to address security consequences of the climate change challenge. Indeed in recent
years, climate change has been recognised as a core development challenge that carries
potentially serious implications for international peace and security.
The impact of climate change in the ENVSEC regions of Central Asia, Eastern Europe,
Southern Caucasus and South Eastern Europe has become clearer and clearer. A 2011
ENVSEC study estimated glaciers in Central Asia have shrunk by up to 30 per cent in the
last 50 years creating water security concerns. Extreme floods in Eastern Europe have
devastated communities. Wildfires are increasingly frequent in the Southern Caucasus. In
South Eastern Europe warmer temperatures and less rain mean reduced water levels for
the agricultural and energy sector. Growing resource constraints are beginning to diminish
significant economic potential from the economies of the European nations. Through
increasing water scarcity, climate change will impact food security and energy security
leading to increased risk of instability between countries, regions or communities.
At the meeting in Brussels, participants agreed that climate change impacts security of
nation states, but traditional (military) security tools will not suffice to protect against
threats affecting economy, environment and society as a whole. To address them
effectively “soft power” solutions are needed. Building climate security is about improving
cooperation and reducing competition.
Participants also recognized the conceptual understanding of climate security urgently
needs to be turned into action to avoid increasing tensions and instability in the region.
The meeting called for the ENVSEC Initiative to develop concrete tools to make the
necessary changes in policies and convince decision makers to develop preventative and
integrated policies.
The ENVSEC Initiative and its partner countries will continue to assess and address the
security impacts of climate change, and will promote coordinated adaptation strategies to
climate change in regions that are shared by several countries (for example transboundary
river basins and mountains) in order for the countries to protect human security and
enhance stability.