UNISDR Director, Kirsi Madi, speaking at the EU high-level event "Climate, Peace and Security: The Time for Action"

By Rosalind Cook

BRUSSELS, 25 June 2018 - The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Ms. Federica Mogherini, convened government ministers, senior UN officials and leading experts to address the growing security risks from climate change.

At a high level event “Climate, Peace and Security: The Time for Action”, participants gave testimony to the increasing climate security threats they are witnessing and identified concrete actions to take forward.

“In the Horn of Africa, the recent floods have displaced hundreds of thousands. Last year, natural disasters have displaced almost 19 million people all around the world, and for the second year in a row, climate impacts have displaced more people than war. I think this is an untold story which must be heard and on which we must act,” Ms. Mogherini told the meeting.

“Climate change is already now having an impact on our national security and our national interests. The World Economic Forum tells us that four of the top five global risks are connected to climate change. The only comparable risk comes from weapons of mass destruction,” she said.

The Prime Minister of Fiji, Mr. Frank Bainimarama, said: “if you are not vulnerable now, you will be soon. Climate change is the greatest threat to human security the world has seen”

Participants highlighted the major challenges and heard that by 2030, 60% of the world’s poor will live in fragile and crisis contexts. All of these trends are threat multipliers to instability and conflict and require multilateral cooperation to be effectively addressed, said Sweden’s Foreign Minister Margot Wallström.