Climate Change as a Security Risk: How Germany Should Address Climate Change at the UNSC

Jun 19, 2020 | Ariana Barrenechea, Sophia Christina Tomany, and Teslin Maria Augustine, with contributions from Abhishek Raj, John Chrysostom Kamoga, Nadja Macherey, Sonia Ran, and Varad Vatsal
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How can Germany address climate change as a global security risk and make it a top priority of the UNSC? This is the question that researchers from the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy in Erfurt investigated over a four-month long research partnership in cooperation with adelphi.

Building on an understanding that to achieve its goal, Germany will need the support of other UNSC members, our research focused on the Dominican Republic, Viet Nam, and South Africa – three states that are also UNSC members in 2020. What we found is that overall, the economic risk and the health risk posed by climate change are widely understood and acknowledged by all three states. Reduced agricultural activity stemming from water scarcity and the resultant impact on people’s livelihood are matters of deep concern for all states. The Dominican Republic is also concerned about reduced tourist influx due to extreme weather events and loss of infrastructure in the island.