The so-called Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group was established in October 2015 with the inaugural meeting of the V20 Ministers of Finance at the Climate Vulnerable Forum in Lima, Peru. The V20 can be considered as an example of the importance of early action in the field of adaptation in order to initiate a transformative change towards resilient societies.
At the Paris Climate Conference held in December 2015, 195 countries adopted the Paris Agreement – the first universal, legally binding global climate deal. The signatory parties committed themselves to a global action plan that aims to keep global warming to well below 2°C and to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C.
The European Union has long played a leadership role in climate diplomacy. One challenging development for future EU climate diplomacy is the centrality of technology in contemporary global interventions to deal with climate change and promote sustainable energy. Challenges and opportunities in this field of action were central to a workshop hosted by the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) in partnership with the Transnational Law Institute (TLI) of the Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London, and Fondation Jean-Jaurès.
This edited volume, entitled Conflict-sensitive climate change adaptation in Africa, focuses on conflict-sensitivity in climate change adaptation strategies and practices in Africa and brings together the voices of academics, practitioners and policymakers from across the globe and Africa. Key questions that frame the contributions are: how do climate change and/or climate adaptation projects cause or contribute to conflicts, and how can adaptation measures be conflict-sensitive?
This briefing paper argues that in order to achieve the targets set out in the Malabo Declaration, which was adopted in 2014 with the aim to improve nutrition and food security across Africa, and to increase agricultural productivity by 2025 while building resilience to the effects of climate change, African governments must support programmes that will contribute to strengthening smallholder farmers’ resilience and improving their livelihoods.
This paper by Sebastian Oberthür (IES – Institute for European Studies) discusses the EU’s position in climate geopolitics after COP21. It therefore highlights the importance of fora beyond the UNFCCC, arguing that the EU’s position in climate geopolitics will in large part depend its internal climate and energy policy framework for 2030 and beyond.
Given the transversal, and universal, nature of the climate challenge, what priorities should shape foreign policy action on climate issues in the decade ahead? What should be the focus of European climate diplomacy? The European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), the l'Institute du développement durable et des relations internationales (IDDRI) and adelphi organized a meeting of senior experts and practitioners to review and build on the outcomes of COP21. The discussions revealed important ideas for using European foreign policy tools to address climate mitigation, adaptation, and finance, for responding to climate-related security and migration risks, and for improving EU climate diplomacy.
On 12 May 2016, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) through its Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) launched its annual publication “The Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID)”, identifying climate change and related natural hazards, such as droughts, sea-level rise and desertification as increasingly important factors causing internal displacement.
Options and Proposals for the International Governance of Geoengineering. Climate Change 14/2014. On behalf of the Federal Environment Agency (Germany).
Environment, Climate Change and Security in the Southern Mediterranean. Berlin: adelphi.
Climate change in UK security policy: implications for development assistance? Working Paper 342. London: Overseas Development Institute.