Climate Change and Security

Climate impacts are already affecting social systems worldwide. In particularly fragile countries and those that are heavily dependent on agriculture, it may aggravate and contribute to conflicts. Likewise, climate impact may cause humanitarian emergencies and lead to displacement. Particularly in the context of existing conflicts, droughts, floods, tropical storms and other extreme events may increase competition for resources between conflicting parties.

The working group is developing concrete recommendations for the Federal Government on tools that may contribute to the early prevention of climate-related crises. It is also concerned with the question of which international and European forums provide a space in which to anchor the theme of climate change and security. The implications of climate change for security policy touch on various ministries’ areas of responsibility, which is why coherent and interministerial policies are essential in managing complex crises such as the climate crisis. Both Advisory Board members and members of Advisory Board organisations are actively involved in the working group.

The working group is currently conducting a study on the topic of environmental peacebuilding and the nexus between climate change and peacebuilding. The authors are analysing various areas of application of environmental peacebuilding, such as climate initiatives with a peacebuilding component, in order to derive lessons learned from projects in various countries and thus formulate concrete recommendations for action for German involvement in civilian crisis prevention and peacebuilding.