Creating a climate for peace
The connection between climate, peace and security is at the top of the agenda at the 6th Berlin Climate Security Conference in Berlin.
Berlin (AA/d.de) – The topics of climate, peace and security and how they connect are on the agenda for a conference at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin on 8 October. This is the sixth time the Berlin Climate Security Conference has taken place, and this year’s motto is, “How to Secure a Climate for Peace”. Around 250 people from all over the world have come to the event, which brings together representatives of countries which are particularly affected by climate change, politics, science and practice, civil society and the media. The speakers also come from many different fields to include policy makers, experts and activists from the entire spectrum of climate and security issues: security and intelligence, humanitarian aid and peacekeeping, development issues, and of course climate studies.
At the beginning of the conference the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock presented a new tool designed as a basis for German climate foreign policy and global security policy, the Climate Conflict Vulnerability Index (CCVI). Based on robust scientific data, the CCVI draws on 19 data sources including satellite imagery from NASA, World Bank data and information from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and the University of the Bundeswehr in Munich. The index monitors circumstances related to the climate, civil society and politics and links these to the vulnerability of people in various regions around the world. Focusing on the interaction between a range of risk factors would help “avoid tunnel vision,” Baerbock said in her presentation. The goal was to avert crises before they develop, she said.
Since the first Berlin Climate and Security Conference in 2019, the event has developed into the leading global forum to discuss the connections between climate change and security. It is expected to provide important input to the COP29 climate conference in Baku in November, particularly with regard to ways to help countries that are vulnerable and affected by conflict to achieve their 1.5° targets.
