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”.

Planetary Security Initiatives are increasingly moving from analysis to action. The recently agreed upon Plan of Action (POA) on Resilience in the Caribbean, is an excellent example of how regional experts developed a list with 2-do’s to tackle the climate-security nexus in this region, including sharing knowledge, action in the field of water, food and energy, strengthening existing networks on resilience and aligning existing activities.

The Planetary Security Initiative proudly presents another highly relevant policy brief. Co-authored by Shiloh Fetzek and Lieutenant Commander Oliver-Leighton (Ret.) this brief concerns the Caribbean, a region highly exposed to a wide range of climate change impacts including more frequent or intense tropical storms, changing precipitation patterns (more intense rainfalls and drought), sea level rise and ocean acidifcation.