Climate Change and Global Security: What Role for the UN Security Council?


Publisher: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung

Author(s): Ken Conca, Joe Thwaites, and Goueun Lee

Date: 2017

Topics: Conflict Prevention, Peace and Security Operations

View Original

Amid growing concerns that climate change will affect international security, climate has emerged as a topic for debate within the UN Security Council. Some member states see the Council as a way to generate momentum for global climate action; others urge engagement out of concern that climate change impinges on peacekeeping operations or requires conflict prevention measures. In recent campaigns for elected seats on the Council, Australia, Bhutan, Cambodia, Luxembourg, and Ukraine identified climate change as an appropriate topic for the Council to address.