At the UN, Climate Change & Security Must Be Tackled Together

People wade through water during floods in the Kurigram district of Bangladesh. Credit: UNICEF/G.M.B. AkashBy Beatrice Mosello and Adam DayNEW YORK, Jul 13 2021 (IPS) Could the next wars be triggered by climate change? Until recently, the question might have seemed like science fiction, but now it is very real. Ethiopia and Egypt are locked in an upward spiral of tensions over the Nile, as a combination of dams and shifting weather patterns pose existential risks to both countries. In the Sahel region, climate-driven changes in pastoralist patterns have contributed to a massive spike in conflicts, while oscillations in the size of Lake Chad are influencing recruitment into the terrorist group Boko Haram. From coral bleaching driving Caribbean fishing communities into organized crime to the drought that preceded the Syria war, a large and growing evidence base points to the fact that climate change is a real factor in today’s and tomorrow’s violent conflicts. How can the UN – an organization established to prevent the kind of wars witnessed in the first half of the twentieth century – reshape itself to address the growing security risks posed by climate change? The UN needs to undergo three related shifts to tackle climate security: (1) from sectors to systems, (2) from exclusivity to inclusivity, and (3) from sovereign rights to global public goods. Taken together, these shifts will require the UN as an organization to transform from an exclusive club of powerful...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Climate Change Development & Aid Global Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies Inequity Peace Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news