Is there value added in putting climate change on the security agenda? And is it at all correct to place climate change there? These were some of the questions addressed in a workshop organized by Germanwatch and Adelphi Research as part of the McPlanet.com 2007 congress. Three input papers drawing on examples from southern Africa illustrated the impact of climate change on human security. In her presentation, Lwandle Mqadi from South Africa highlighted that sectors especially vulnerable to climate change in southern Africa, such as water, energy, agriculture and health, are already affected due to non-existent or deficient infrastructure and the lack of financial, human and natural resources. Climate change has aggravated the situation through increasingly frequent droughts followed more and more by heavy floods. Mqadi emphasized that these impacts in southern Africa need to be viewed against the backdrop of social and political tensions and, above all, the existing poverty. Annika Kramer's (Adelphi Research) presentation focused on the consequences this can have on water and human security. Lack of access to water can have massive negative fall-outs for human health and food supply. When societal or international tensions are added to this mix, there is potential for violent conflict, which in turn negatively impacts regional stability. Thus, Christopher Bals (Germanwatch) concluded, climate change is very much part of the security debate. However, it must be understood to include the broad concept of human security needs. Adaptation strategies will play a crucial role, although in many cases such strategies will not even need to be developed from scratch. Water management and poverty eradication are already some of the key action areas of development cooperation. Climate protection can consequently also play a role in conflict prevention. (by Annika Kramer)

For more information on the conference, please see www.mcplanet.com 

Published in:ECC-Newsletter, June 2007