Summary: 16 November 2009, New York - Statement on behalf of the European Union by H. E. Mr. Anders Lidén, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sweden, 64th session of the General Assembly, Item 114: Follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit, United Nations
Mr President, Your Excellencies,
I am honoured to speak on behalf of the European Union.
There are many aspects to implementation of the Millennium Summit. I would like to focus today's intervention on one important issue: climate change and its possible security implications. The watershed report of the Secretary General on this topic could not be more timely. It marks the beginning of a new field of work for the UN.
Three considerations underpin the EU perspective:
The impacts of climate change are universal. Left unchecked global warming will sooner or later affect us all. Rich or poor. North or South. It is not a challenge only to some, but a concern to us all.
This implies that our response must be global. Since climate change brings shared challenges we need to respond with a comprehensive approach: at all levels and with all policy tools at our disposal. No country can tackle these issues in isolation.
There is an urgent need for action. The security risks posed by climate change are real. They are already being felt. They are impacting on people's lives. One key measure will be a common push in the lead-up to Copenhagen - and a bold agreement there.
Mr President,
By redrawing the maps of water availability, food security, disease prevalence, population distribution and coastal zones, climate change will have serious implications for the security and development of entire regions. Climate change is best viewed as a threat multiplier which exacerbates existing trends, tensions and instability. Climate change threatens to overburden states and regions that are already fragile and conflict prone.
We need to build emergency preparedness capacity for both the immediate and longer term, as well as be prepared to address a number of unprecedented and unpredictable challenges. The Hyogo Framework for Action gives us an important platform in building resilience of nations and communities to disasters.
The poor and vulnerable are most at risk. One third of Africans live in areas prone to drought. By 2020 an additional 75 to 250 million Africans are likely to be at risk from water stress. Sea-level rise, coastal flooding, changing rainfall patterns and drought could displace as many as 200 million people in Africa in 2050. Scientists draw the conclusion that climate change threatens to exacerbate these trends and undermine governments' ability to ensure security and sustainable
development.
For people of many Small Island Developing States, the link between climate change, development and security is not only a question of regional stability, it is also about national survival. Due to sea level rise and salt water inundation, relocation strategies are being formulated by some nations and opportunities provided for citizens to migrate. The international community will have to tackle the legal and political implications of migration caused by climate related events and stateless
citizens within a not so distant future.
In the Arctic region, the effects of climate change are plainly visible with melting sea ice, melting of the Greenland ice cap and thawing permafrost. Coastal erosion has already made it necessary to relocate entire communities. Fortunately in this region, international cooperation structures that bring together the states and the indigenous peoples involved are already in place. Such cooperation fosters confidence and helps to address transboundary issues, adapt to new conditions, maintain
stability and avoid conflicts.
Whereas problems abound, there are emerging experiences of what the Secretary-General has labeled "threat minimizers". So how can we continue our efforts to address these challenges? In the light of the recent report of the Secretary General, the EU would like to highlight five areas where action is needed.
First, we need a transformation of our economies to mitigate climate change. We must take bold and determined action to reduce our collective emissions of greenhouse gases. To limit global temperature rise below 2 degrees is a necessity. Developed countries will have to take the lead with binding commitments - and developing countries, especially the advanced emerging economies, will also have to contribute with immediate action.
Second, we need to focus our efforts. The UN Secretary-General's landmark report proposes two courses of action. One is to prioritize problem areas with high impact, large magnitudes, imminent threats, irreversible consequences and high human costs. The other is to accelerate the identification of threat minimizers. This is about creating positive spirals of change and make systematic use of the toolbox. In this context, a focused research effort will continuously help improving our
understanding of the drivers of climate change and the options we have to reduce its impacts. Research has helped us to find out about the causes, manifestations and effects of climate change. This knowledge entails reducing uncertainty.
As a third measure, we need to identify and strengthen the inter-linkages between climate change and security, between climate change and development and also between adaptation and mitigation. Adaptation is about forms of development in which the capacity to manage risk determines progress. There are synergies between adaptation measures and emissions reductions that should be explored. Investment in mitigation and adaptation should go hand in hand with efforts to address and respond to the
international security threats posed by climate change. International co-operation should be enhanced in the areas of early warning, conflict management and peace building in the context of global warming. These actions should all be viewed as part of a preventive security policy.
Forth, adaptation to climate change is a challenge for every country. Special attention must be paid to the most vulnerable groups and the poor. It is crucial to strengthen the ability of individuals, societies and ecosystems to deal with this challenge. Adaptation in the agricultural sector will be decisive for food security and the livelihood of poor people. A growing body of scientific work also shows the importance of applying a gender perspective to adaptation. Promotion of good
governance, human rights and gender equality are "threat minimizers". They are desirable in their own right but can also help lower the risk of climate related insecurity. Regional and multinational adaptation activities can have trust creating and peace building effects.
And last but not least, because the agenda is so pervasive, a multilateral response is merited. The United Nations has the capacity like no other organization to address this issue in all its dimensions and must take the lead. The report of the Secretary-General is the first of its kind and has the potential to serve as a vital point of departure for the United Nations. While the way forward outlined by the Secretary-General is a good basis for further work, the EU would have appreciated more
specific recommendations. The role of the UN in terms of responsibilities, capacities, and resources should be made more explicit. UN civilian and military missions should be planned and executed in ways that reduce, rather than enhance, the negative linkage between climate change and security. The EU would hope that the Secretary-General could make use of some of our proposals about how the United Nations system could address emerging challenges.
It is important that we continue to build knowledge and discuss solutions jointly, on a global level. A common ownership is a prerequisite for creating the transparency and confidence needed to adequately address the issue and its challenges. In March 2008 the highest decision making body of the EU, the European Council, considered the impact of climate change on international security: how it affects Europe's own security and how the EU should respond to it. This has subsequently been followed
up with more specific recommendations for action. As a consequence, we have enhanced our conflict prevention and crisis management, but we need to improve analysis and early warning capabilities. The EU cannot do this alone. Therefore, we are already pursuing a dialogue and cooperating with other countries and regional and international organizations, as well as with research institutions and the civil society. We must now step up our work, in particular with the United Nations.
Mr President,
Climate change and its security implications is an item that should be kept regularly on the agenda of the UN General Assembly, underpinned by recurrent reports of the Secretary General. The adoption of resolution A/63/281 expressing deep concern for the possible security implications of the adverse impacts of climate change by the UN General Assembly in June 2009 was an important step. The EU also supports consideration by the UN Security Council on this issue on a regular basis, if necessary.
In this context, the EU recalls the open debate on "Energy, security and climate" held by the UN Security Council in April 2007.
The first and most urgent step on the road to security in the face of climate change is a global, ambitious and comprehensive agreement in Copenhagen. It is the European Union's profound belief that we have no alternative to a successful outcome at COP15. An ambitious and binding deal is in the interest - and is the responsibility - of every nation.
Thank you.
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