Berlin Climate and Security Conference 2020 - Part II

Sep 7, 2020 - Oct 2, 2020 | German Federal Foreign Office, adelphi, and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
online
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Building on the high-level political Part I of BCSC 2020 and the launch of the Global Climate Security Risk and Foresight Assessment during the event, Part II of the conference, running from September 7 to October 2, will have two main aims:

• To bring together and support the climate-security community of practice;
• To inform the Global Climate Security Risk and Foresight Assessment.  

Currently there is no central venue connecting the diverse organisations, researchers and practitioners working on the impacts of climate change on international peace and security. Part II of BCSC 2020 fills this gap by bringing together the field’s various actors in one digital space to meet two strategic goals: i. share good practice on what works on the ground, and ii. help inform policy processes. It will thereby help bridge the gaps between science and policy.

The Global Climate Security Risk and Foresight Assessment aims to offer reproducible methodologies and accessible tools to all actors conducting climate-security risk assessments. For this purpose, the assessment requires input from various stakeholders and experts to ensure the tools respond to the needs of interested parties, and to facilitate the uptake of developed tools and methodologies. This is the third strategic goal of Part II of BCSC 2020.

To meet these aims, Part II will consist of open and closed sessions led by partner organisations, in addition to sessions run by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and adelphi. These webinar-style events will take place over the course of one month. The sessions’ formats will be designed to meet their specific objectives and the target audience, but will follow these guidelines:

• Closed sessions will focus on the inputs needed to ensure the success of the Global Climate Security Risk and Foresight Assessment, centring scientific expertise, discussing scenario development and further aspects which are not immediately relevant to the wider community but are required to ensure the project’s quality and organisational support. These small-group discussions will be run by partner organisations and PIK and adelphi.
• Public sessions are broader in scope, majority partner run and cover overarching issues such as gender and climate-security or risk informed planning. They aim to engage the entire community.

The first part of the 2020 Berlin Climate and Security Conference took place online on June 23 and 24, 2020, bringing together leading figures from governments, international organisations, the scientific community, the private sector and civil society through two sessions on the state of the art of climate and security and a high-level political segment. After launching the Berlin Call for Action in 2019 and working to increase the momentum for decisive action to address climate-related drivers of conflict and instability, this is the second iteration of this event.