Translating Urgency into Action on Water, Climate, and Security

May 7, 2021 | Ratia Tekenet
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“We need to devote our full attention to the relationship between water, climate, and security, increase understanding of the issue, and take urgent action,” said Carola van Rijnsoever, Director of Inclusive Green Growth at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a recent Hague roundtable on building a transatlantic coalition for climate action on water and security challenges in countries of risk.

“It’s time to move past the talking and develop practices, and put the practices into play,” said Sharon Burke, Senior Advisor and Director of the Resource Security group at New America. One way to achieve this is by expanding a community of practice that can show tangible results about how this partnership advances the security of our peoples, she said.

Now that climate and security issues are high on the agenda, we must ensure that our efforts continue to be collaborative, said Hinrich Thoelken, Climate Envoy of the German Foreign Office. As they gain attention, we should prevent these issues from becoming a political race instead of the necessary earnest discussions and meaningful actions to address them, said Thoelken.

Translating urgency into action requires capitalizing on everyone’s strengths. It requires strengthening synergies within development, diplomacy, defense, and disaster sectors, said Tom Middendorp, Chair of the International Military Council on Climate and Security. “Climate change is a whole-of-society problem, and it requires whole-of-society answers.” The security sector can play an enormous role in understanding the effects of climate change, forecasting these effects, and building resilience, especially by supporting climate change adaptation in fragile regions, he said.