How Can UN Organs Respond to Climate-Security Risks?

Publisher: Climate Security Expert Network

Author(s): Christian König and Janani Vivekananda

Date: 2020

Topics: Climate Change, Governance, Humanitarian Assistance, Peace and Security Operations

The impact of climate change on peace and conflict is a critical foreign policy challenge. Climate change compounds existing security risks, creating new and stronger pressures on communities and governments, making peace harder to maintain, achieve and sustain. The traditional perception that climate change falls under the exclusive responsibility of UN organs charged with matters of sustainable development is no longer tenable, as its impacts on and risks for international peace and security have become increasingly evident. Adequate responses to these challenges will involve the entire UN system and incorporate action from multiple organs throughout the conflict cycle – long before the outbreak of open violence, in reconstruction efforts as well as peacebuilding. It includes an infographic that displays some of the potential actions the General Assembly, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Security Council, and the Economic and Social Council can and should take in order to address climate-security risks.