S/PV.8307 Maintenance of International Peace and Security 11/07/2018
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United Nations S/ PV.8307 Security Council Provisional Seventy-third year 8307th meeting Wednesday, 11 July 2018, 10 a.m. New York President: Ms. Wallström .................................. (Sweden) Members: Bolivia (Plurinational State of) ..................... Mrs. Cordova Soría China ......................................... Mr. Ma Zhaoxu Côte d’Ivoire ................................... Mr. Djedje Equatorial Guinea ............................... Mr. Ndong Mba Ethiopia ....................................... Mr. Alemu France ........................................ Mr. Delattre Kazakhstan .................................... Mr. Ashikbayev Kuwait ........................................ Mr. Alotaibi Netherlands .................................... Mr. Rhuggenaath Peru .......................................... Mr. Meza-Cuadra Poland ........................................ Mr. Lewicki Russian Federation ............................... Mr. Polyanskiy United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland .. Ms. Pierce United States of America .......................... Mr. Cohen Agenda Maintenance of international peace and security Understanding and addressing climate-related security risks This record contains the text of speeches delivered in English and of the translation of speeches delivered in other languages. The final text will be printed in the Official Records of the Security Council. Corrections should be submitted to the original languages only. They should be incorporated in a copy of the record and sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned to the Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Service, room U-0506 ([email protected]). Corrected records will be reissued electronically on the Official Document System of the United Nations (http://documents.un.org). 18-21913 (E) *1821913* S/PV.8307 Maintenance of international peace and security 11/07/2018 The meeting was called to order at 10.10 a.m. continue to centrally integrate climate concerns in our security considerations. Adoption of the agenda It is clear that climate change is a real threat and The agenda was adopted. is proceeding at a relentless pace. Earlier this year, the World Meteorological Organization confirmed Maintenance of international peace and security that 2015, 2016 and 2017 were the warmest years on Understanding and addressing climate-related record. The level of carbon dioxide concentration in security risks the atmosphere continues to rise. That build-up means that we are at increasing risk from heat waves, floods, The President: I would like to warmly welcome the droughts and wildfires, and we are now seeing all those Heads of States and Government, ministers and other things happening more frequently. representatives here in the Security Council Chamber. Their presence here today underscores the importance While the impact of climate change may be spread of the subject matter we will discuss. I am also delighted unevenly across various regions today, no country will to welcome once again the Deputy Secretary-General, be spared from its consequences in the long term. But Her Excellency Ms. Amina Mohammed. we see disproportionate effects on socially vulnerable and marginalized groups. We must act together In accordance with rule 37 of the Council’s with a joint vision and a commitment to multilateral provisional rules of procedure, I invite the cooperation. That is our only chance at finding effective representatives of Iraq, Maldives, Nauru, the Sudan and sustainable solutions to this huge challenge. and Trinidad and Tobago to participate in this meeting. The impacts of climate change go well beyond the On behalf of the Council, I welcome His Excellency strictly environmental. Climate change is inextricably Mr. Baron Divavesi Waqa, President of the Republic linked to some of the most pressing security challenges of Nauru. I also wish to welcome His Excellency of our time. It is no coincidence that the countries Mr. Hassan Janabi, Minister for Water Resources of the most vulnerable to climate change are often those Republic of Iraq. most vulnerable to conflict and fragility. Fragile In accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s countries are in danger of becoming stuck in a cycle provisional rules of procedure, I invite Ms. Hindou of conflict and climate disaster. Where resilience is Ibrahim of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum eroded, communities may be displaced and exposed to on Climate Change to participate in this meeting. exploitation. That said, the impact of climate change on security can take many different shapes, as the concept The Security Council will now begin its note for this debate continues to argue. They includes consideration of the item on its agenda. loss of livelihoods, food insecurity and risks to the At this meeting, the Security Council will hear natural resource base. Many of those manifestations briefings by the Deputy Secretary-General, His become visible only over time. Excellency Mr. Janabi and Ms. Ibrahim. The Lake Chad basin is grappling with many of I now give the floor to the Deputy Secretary- those challenges. Having just returned from a joint visit General, Her Excellency Ms. Amina Mohammed. to the region with the African Union and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Ms. Margot Wallström, I The Deputy Secretary-General: I would like to have seen the situation on the ground in all its complexity begin by commending the Security Council for focusing and urgency. The basin is experiencing a crisis brought its attention on climate-related security risks. on by a combination of political, socioeconomic, I would like to address four key issues today: humanitarian and environmental factors. The drastic first, the nature of the challenges to our common shrinking of Lake Chad by more than 90 per cent security posed by climate risks; secondly, the impacts since the 1960s has led to environmental degradation, of climate change; thirdly, the actions being taken by socioeconomic marginalization and insecurity affecting the United Nations system to tackle them; and, lastly, 40 million people. Exacerbated competition over scant what we need to ask of all of us to ensure that we resources and the vicious cycle of risk and vulnerability 2/29 18-21913 11/07/2018 Maintenance of international peace and security S/PV.8307 have decreased the resilience of populations to cope In that spirit, we are determined to fully mobilize with the humanitarian crisis. the United Nations capacity to better understand and respond to climate-related security risks at all levels. I personally grew up in the Lake Chad basin, in We are increasing our climate-related security-risk Maiduguri. As a child, I would cross the lake on a assessments and management strategies. We are hovercraft, thinking that I was going to the United strengthening our capacity to understand the impact of Kingdom. Today, you can hardly take a canoe across it. climate change on security, to integrate our findings The situation is real. There is no trade. There are only into assessment and planning processes and to better places for terrorists to hide. coordinate efforts between system entities. Declining economic activity and agricultural For example, the Secretary General’s forthcoming loss have led to a lack of employment opportunities report on the United Nations Office for West Africa across the region. The resulting socioeconomic and the Sahel will report on recent developments marginalization has exposed populations, in particular involving the climate-security nexus in the region. the young, to the risk of violent extremism and has The recalibrated United Nations Integrated Strategy provided a breeding ground for recruitment by groups for the Sahel is similarly climate-oriented, focusing such as Boko Haram. The Boko Haram insurgency in on building resilience and improving management north-east Nigeria and the neighbouring countries of of natural resources. By supporting climate-smart Cameroon, Chad and the Niger has left over 10 million agriculture and resilient pastoralism at the regional people displaced and has resulted in the massive level, the United Nations will continue to contribute to destruction of basic infrastructure, health-care and strengthening the resilience and capacities to adapt to educational facilities, commercial properties, private the impact of climate change of rural women and their homes and agricultural assets. communities. The United Nations is also supporting ongoing successful efforts by the member States of The multidimensional nature of the crisis underlines the Lake Chad Basin Commission to implement their the complex relationship between climate change stabilization strategy and programme, which also and conflict. Climate security-risk assessments and includes the development programme for recharging reporting from the local, national and regional levels Lake Chad. should be considered as an early warning for conflict prevention. We must understand climate change At the international level, the United Nations can as one issue in a web of factors that can lead to and help to connect efforts and ensure that climate-related exacerbate conflict. Within that web, climate change frameworks are linked up and complement one another. acts as a threat multiplier, applying additional stress We will support efforts to set the global resilience on prevailing political, social and economic pressure agenda to achieve sustainable development. points. As the Executive Secretary of the Lake Chad What is