Research Report The UN Security Council and Climate Change Dead trees form an eerie tableau Introduction on the shores of Maubara Lake in Timor-Leste. UN Photo/Martine Perret At the outset of the Security Council’s 23 Feb- particular the major carbon-emitting states, will ruary 2021 open debate on climate and security, show the level of commitment needed to reduce world-renowned naturalist David Attenborough carbon emissions enough to stave off the more dire delivered a video message urging global coopera- predictions of climate modellers. tion to tackle the climate crisis. “If we continue on While climate mitigation and adaptation 2021, No. #2 21 June 2021 our current path, we will face the collapse of every- measures are within the purview of the UN thing that gives us our security—food production; Framework Convention on Climate Change This report is available online at securitycouncilreport.org. access to fresh water; habitable, ambient tempera- (UNFCCC) and contributions to such measures tures; and ocean food chains”, he said. Later, he are outlined in the Paris Agreement, many Secu- For daily insights by SCR on evolving Security Council actions please added, “Please make no mistake. Climate change rity Council members view climate change as a subscribe to our “What’s In Blue” series at securitycouncilreport.org is the biggest threat to security that humans have security threat worthy of the Council’s attention. or follow @SCRtweets on Twitter. ever faced.” Such warnings have become common. Other members do not. One of the difficulties in And while the magnitude of this challenge is widely considering whether or not the Council should accepted, it is not clear if the global community, in play a role (and a theme of this report) is that Security Council Report Research Report June 2021 securitycouncilreport.org 1 1 Introduction Introduction 2 The Climate-Security Conundrum 4 The UN Charter and Security there are different interpretations of what is on Climate and Security, among other initia- Council Practice appropriate for the Security Council to do tives. These developments have largely reflect- in discharging its Charter-given mandate to ed the initiative of Council members and other 5 Security Council Engagement: Evolution and Key Themes maintain international peace and security. member states to foster a better understand- Notwithstanding these tensions, the issue ing of climate-security risks and consistent 9 Institutional Developments has gained traction in the Council in recent and meaningful responses to them. 12 Council Dynamics: The Current years. An increasing number of Council mem- Efforts within UN peace operations to State of Play bers are choosing to hold signature events on cli- develop responses to climate-related secu- 14 Options for Action mate change and security, during their monthly rity threats continue to make progress, but 18 Annex I: Thematic Meetings on Council presidencies, to support the integration are uneven and lack sufficient resources. The Climate-Security Matters of climate change language into formal Council Council can enhance its focus on climate- 19 Annex II: Formal Meetings on outcomes (that is, resolutions and presidential related security matters, but in order for cli- Topics Related to Climate and statements), and more broadly, to approach mate risks to be assuaged in relevant situa- Security peace and security issues with greater sensitiv- tions on the Council’s agenda, the rest of the 20 Annex III: Arria-Formula ity to the harmful effects of climate change. UN system will need to continue to build its Meetings on Climate-Security In open debates and Arria-formula meet- capacity and expertise on this issue. Matters ings, Council members and other member The report explores the above-mentioned 21 Annex IV: Climate Change states have also increasingly framed this risk themes in the following sections: Language in Security Council in more holistic terms, linking climate change • The first section briefly analyses whether Outcomes and security to other thematic issues on the the Council is an appropriate venue to 27 Annex V: Other Security Council Council’s agenda. For example, they often dis- address climate-security matters. Key Documents on Climate cuss the impacts of climate change on women • The second section looks to the UN Change and Security and youth—and the role that these groups can Charter and Security Council and Gen- play in responding to climate-security risks— eral Assembly practice for guidance on and they explore how climate change, pan- Council involvement on climate change demics, hunger, and conflict interact to com- and security matters. pound security risks in conflict-affected and • The third section outlines the ways in other vulnerable settings. Council members which the Council has engaged on this have often seen efforts to tackle climate-secu- issue in meetings and in formal outcomes. rity threats as an element of the UN system’s It also describes the institutional mecha- conflict prevention work, and in more recent nisms that have been established to help years, many of them have also viewed address- the Council and the UN more broadly to ing climate change as an important part of the address climate-related security threats in UN’s peacekeeping, peacebuilding and sus- a more consistent and impactful manner. taining peace efforts. • The fourth section discusses Security Coun- A further focus of this report is the signifi- cil dynamics on climate change and security. cant institutional architecture that has been • The fifth section offers some observations established just since 2018, both within and on the Council’s approach to climate and outside the UN system, to help undergird the security matters and presents options for efforts of the Security Council and the broad- the way forward. er UN family on this issue. This has includ- The report concludes with annexes sum- ed the establishment of an Informal Expert marising climate change language in Secu- Group of Members of the Security Council on rity Council outcomes, and listing other rel- Climate and Security and a Group of Friends evant documents. The Climate-Security Conundrum The Council is the UN organ conferred on the absence of violent conflict. Moreover, under Article 24 of the UN Charter with the the Council must make choices about effec- primary responsibility for the maintenance tive time and resource allocation. Its agenda of international peace and security. Address- is already packed with crises featuring more ing the challenges of climate change does not evidently direct drivers of insecurity: some fit neatly into conventional notions of peace question how much time the Council should and security, which tend to focus narrowly accord to climate and security matters, when 2 securitycouncilreport.org Security Council Report Research Report June 2021 The Climate-Security Conundrum faced with more immediate threats to peace and security in particu- of such a connection. In this regard, in a recent article assessing the lar situations. literature over the past decade on the relationship between climate The best way to avert the worst security impacts of climate change and security, the authors note, “more than half of the review change lies in significantly reducing global carbon emissions. As studies considered here have called for more research that explicitly the UNFCCC is the primary vehicle through which such efforts investigates pathways and intermediate factors”.8 are pursued, no one would reasonably expect the Security Coun- Furthermore, there is wide agreement that climate change is cil to play a key role in this regard. It is similarly highly unlikely a risk multiplier.9 In a report jointly issued by two leading think that the Council would sanction those countries most responsible tanks on climate policy, the authors observe that, among its negative for carbon emissions, especially as some of the body’s permanent effects, climate change can “increase resource demands, environ- members are among the world’s biggest emitters and would resist mental degradation and uneven development, and exacerbate exist- sanctioning themselves.1 ing fragility and conflict risks”.10 They further note that while climate As well, the relationship between climate change and conflict com- change is “rarely a direct cause of conflict…there is ample evidence plex and not well understood. In one article based on interviews with that its effects exacerbate important drivers and contextual factors 12 leading social scientists, the authors conclude that low socioeco- of conflict and fragility, thereby challenging the stability of states and nomic development, low state capacity, intergroup inequality, and societies”.11 With mitigation efforts to date failing to curb global a past history of conflict are most associated with conflict risk and warming, it is also clear that climate change will become a greater that “climate variability and/or change is low on the ranked list of risk factor for conflict in the future.12 As its security implications most influential conflict drivers across experience to date”.2 There become more grave, the Council may increasingly be compelled are “notable uncertainties about climate-conflict links”, and there to address the climate crisis. In the meantime, the Council has a is “limited understanding” of these connections, “whether through Charter-mandated conflict prevention role that supports addressing agriculture, economic shocks, disasters or migration”.3 In addition,