Meeting in New York City on June 20, the 15-member United Nations Security Council bounced the issue of climate change back to other U.N. entities traditionally charged with sustainable development matters—including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the General Assembly, and the Economic and Social Council.
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice indignantly characterized the body’s lack of action.“This is more than disappointing. It’s pathetic,” she said. “[It’s] a dereliction of duty.
In an opening speech, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, had called for ambitious steps to reduce climate change and make “sustainable development for all” the defining issue of our time.
The Secretary-General pointed to the “devastating impact of extreme weather and rising sea levels on lives, infrastructure and budgets”—describing climate change as an “unholy brew” that could create dangerous security vacuums.
“We must make no mistake,” said the Secretary-General. “The facts are clear: Climate change is real and accelerating in a dangerous manner.” He pointed out that, “Worldwide, hundreds of millions of people [are] in danger of food and water shortages. Environmental refugees are reshaping the human geography of the planet.”
U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner asserted that climate change was a “threat multiplier,” that would have fundamental implications for weather, settlements, infrastructure, food insecurity, livelihoods and development. Competition over scarce water and land, exacerbated by regional changes in climate, he said, already had been a key factor in local conflicts in Darfur, the Central African Republic, northern Kenya, and Chad.
Although, Steiner noted, “the world does not have perfect knowledge” on current or future climate change, “Human beings have never planned strategies or responses based on 100 percent certainty….Rather we make decisions based on risk assessments—intuitively when, as an individual we cross a road; or deliberately, when governments or companies make decisions, from economic planning and infrastructure to emerging security concerns.”
Speaking on behalf of the Pacific small-island developing States—the Maldives, Seychelles and Timor-Leste—Marcus Stephen, the President of Nauru, said the very survival of many countries was threatened by the adverse impacts of climate change. Some islands could disappear altogether, forcing large numbers of peoples to relocate — first internally and then across borders.
While Council members understood such security challenges, solidarity demanded more than sympathetic words, said President Stephen.
The Council, he insisted, should start by requesting the appointment of a special representative on climate and security, as well as an assessment of the United Nations’ capacity to respond to the security impacts of the phenomenon.
The Council will render itself irrelevant, he said, if it chooses to ignore the biggest security threat of our time— imploring it to “seize this opportunity to lead”.
During the debate, in which some 65 speakers took the floor, delegates gave opposing views over whether the Council should consider climate change Some representatives applauded the Council’s emerging role as a necessary complement. But others saw it as an encroachment, and said the Council members could better contribute by making good on their international development commitments, promoting the green economy, and ensuring a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol with measurable and more ambitious goals on emissions reduction.
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Cheryl Kaften is an accomplished communicator who has written for consumer and corporate audiences. She has worked extensively for MasterCard (News - Alert) Worldwide, Philip Morris USA (Altria), and KPMG, and has consulted for Estee Lauder and the Philadelphia Inquirer Newspapers. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Jennifer Russell
