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UN Security Council to Discuss Climate

A group of retired US army generals and admirals has published a report on how climate change could create or exacerbate security problems in many parts of the world, as groups of people fight over dwindling resources. The UN Security Council is set to discuss this topic.

Threat Multiplier

The report, entitled "National Security and the Threat of Climate Change", published by the CNA Corporation, made the following formal findings:

• "Projected climate change poses a serious threat to America's national security. "
• "Climate change acts as a threat multiplier for instability in some of the most volatile regions of the world. "
• "Projected climate change will add to tensions even in stable regions of the world. "
• "Climate change, national security and energy dependence are a related set of global challenges. "

One of its authors, General Gordon Sullivan, said, "Climate change is a national security issue. We found that climate instability will lead to instability in geopolitics and impact American military operations around the world. "

Security Council Meeting

The UN Security Council is set to discuss these issues for the first time on 18th April 2007. Although the UN has been instrumental in finding scientific consensus on climate change through the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it has never before linked climate change to increased war, unrest, conflict and terrorism.

The meeting is also expected to discuss the economics of the clean technology market. But, the US, which has resisted caps on greenhouse gas emissions, may miss out on the economic benefits of this new sector.

Margaret Beckett, UK Foreign Secretary said, "The implications of climate change for our security are more fundamental and more comprehensive than any single conflict. The resources available to us are already stretched and they're under immense and growing strain. An unstable climate threatens to exacerbate all of these existing tensions. "

Recommendations

The "National Security and the Threat of Climate Change" made the following recommendations:

• "The national security consequences of climate change should be fully integrated into national security and national defense strategies. "
• "The U.S. should commit to a stronger national and international role to help stabilize climate changes at levels that will avoid significant disruption to global security and stability. "
• "The U.S. should commit to global partnerships that help less developed nations build the capacity and resiliency to better manage climate impacts. "
• "The Department of Defense should enhance its operational capability by accelerating the adoption of improved business processes and innovative technologies that result in improved U.S. combat power through energy efficiency. "
• "DoD should conduct an assessment of the impact on US military installations worldwide of rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and other possible climate change impacts over the next thirty to forty years. "

Clean Technology Market

The subject of economic benefits, for countries that are first to develop favourable economic circumstances for new, clean technologies, is also expected to be aired.

As part of the preview to her argument to the UN, Beckett said, "Clean-tech is going to be a massive market. Those who move into that market first - first to design, first to patent, first to set the technology standard, first to sell, first to invest, first to build a brand - have an unparalleled chance to make money. "

She said that the EU aims to become the "first competitive, low-carbon, energy secure economy in the world. We are doing it because we believe that it is in our core economic interest: it represents a political consensus that Europe can only and will only compete successfully in the global economy if we increase our energy security and if we lead the global transition to a low-carbon economy. "

The Full Report

You can download the full report by the CAN Corporation by clicking here.