Time: 17th of November 2017, 10:00-11:30h.
Venue: German Pavilion at COP23, Bonn zone accreditation needed, no registration required
Climate change is one of the greatest security challenges of the 21st century. It will act, as evidenced by the G7 report A New Climate for Peace, as “threat multiplier”, aggravating already fragile situations and contributing to security risks. Foreign policy urgently needs to find appropriate responses and develop preventive approaches to strengthen resilience in various parts of the world. To deepen the understanding of climate change and security and the particularities of each region, the German Federal Foreign Office and adelphi with support of the Planetary Security Initiative co-organize a side event at the UN climate change conference in Bonn (COP23).
For the most vulnerable countries, climate change poses an immediate threat to public safety and an existential threat in the long-term – particularly so for small island states. The event therefore also looks at climate change impacts on SIDS and their particular vulnerabilities. Another spotlight will be on G7 actions to tackle climate security risks, for example in the Lake Chad region, as well as other multilateral initiatives (e.g. UN Security Council). The discussions will draw on knowledge developed for this year’s Planetary Security Conference and assembles stakeholders from different regions and organisations.
Panellists will give inputs on: entry points for increased preventive diplomacy; the particular perspectives and strategies of small island islands; and ideas how the international community can help address these risks.
The aims of the event are to showcase initiatives, experiences and new approaches to design a preventive climate foreign policy; to connect climate security related initiatives and practitioners and facilitate improving, replicating, and scaling up such new formats and approaches; to test the waters of potential international entry points for initiatives on a preventive climate diplomacy.
Panellists:
- Peter Fischer, Deputy Director General for Globalisation, Energy and Climate Policy at the German Federal Foreign Office;
- Ronald Jumeau, Seychelles Ambassador to the United Nations
- Dennis Tänzler, Director International Climate Policy at adelphi.
- Invited: Krishneil Narayan, Director Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN)
The panellist’s statements are followed by a discussion and short Q&A. Networking with refreshments and light catering rounds up the event.