During the Planetary Security Conference 2019 Friends of Europe created a DebateSecurityPlus section on the climate security nexus. Jamie Shea sat down with Rear Admiral Ann Phillips, (ret.) US Navy, General Tom Middendorp, former Chief of Defence in the Netherlands and Sherri Goodman, Senior Strategist at the Center for Climate and Security

The UK’s House of Commons debated climate change this week for the first time in two years, stimulated by school strikes which took place across the country on 15th February. Among the concerns raised were the security risks emanating from climate change and environmental degradation.

Under the theme #Doable, the Planetary Security Conference 2019 focused on concrete action that can support the mitigation and adaption to the consequences of the climate security nexus. From the outset the media was identified as a key actor in making the shift from awareness to action and a focus was set on including journalism as an essential aspect of doable solutions. This article provides an overview of the main articles published in light of the conference as well as the work of the different media representatives.

The Planetary Security Conference 2019 concluded on Wednesday 20 February with a collective resolve to implement and scale up actions to reduce security risks emanating from climate change. Over 450 diplomats, military personnel, development professionals, local and regional leaders, scientists and private sector players came together to discuss progress so far and how immediate needs could be addressed, particularly those most pressing in the spotlight regions of the Conference: Iraq, Lake Chad, Mali and the Caribbean.

At the Planetary Security Conference 2019, a meeting of hundreds of security and foreign policy experts and practitioners, the Center for Climate and Security (CCS) and its partners the Netherlands Institute of International Relations (Clingendael)/ the Planetary Security Initiative, the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS),  and the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS) announced the creation of a new International Military Council on Climate and Security, or IMCCS. 

The security threat of environmental problems such as climate change and environmental pollution should not be underestimated according to Barend ter Haar, Senior Visiting Research Fellow at The Clingendael Institute. In this article published on the website of Security and Human Rights Monitor he addresses the threats that have been recognized by the OSCE – The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe - and discusses if there is more to be done.

Following the Planetary Security Conference (PSC) 2019, Friends of Europe’s global online brainstorm Debating Security Plus is opening its debate on the climate-security nexus.

During and after the Planetary Security Conference 2019 several live streams will be available.

The last Planetary Security Conference in December 2017 saw the launch of the Hague Declaration on Planetary Security. Endorsed by over 100 high-level signatories and setting out a shared agenda for action on climate-security, the Declaration was the first-ever call to action to address climate change and security.

The most influential global figures in international security policy gathering next week (February 15-17) at MSC 2019 will consider climate change alongside issues of trade, arms control, transatlantic cooperation, technological innovation, and “a reshuffling of core pieces of the international order”.