Norway deeply regrets that the draft resolution on climate and security was not adopted today.
We remain steadfast that the adverse effects of climate change do matter to conflict and peace - and therefore should also matter to the Security Council.
Climate change is not a problem of the future. It's here, and now, and it affects every region in the world. At last week’s open debate we heard first-hand accounts of the many different ways it manifests on the ground. And there were urgent calls for the Security Council to consider its various impacts to peace and security, and to recommend ways to prevent and manage climate risks.
It’s been ten years since the Council first acknowledged climate change as an emerging risk factor for global peace and security. In this time UN peace missions have found themselves operating in increasingly complex environments, where non-traditional threats like climate change must be factored in.
President,
The Council needs a better understanding of the potential effects of climate pressures and shocks on its efforts to build and sustain peace. For the sake of preparedness, resilience, and the protection of civilians – as well as the ability of its missions to operate.
Let me also reiterate that the climate security agenda is – at its heart – a preventive agenda. Including climate risks in analysis and responses can only enhance our peacebuilding and peacekeeping efforts. The aim is to “climate proof” conflict prevention, and peace and security efforts- not to take on the tasks of other UN organs.
A thematic resolution on climate and security would have helped guide the Council’s work. While disappointed by today’s result, we will continue to work with all Council members, both on improving our understanding of, and approaches to, climate-related security risks.