ISS Pretoria, One World and Adelphi Seminar, BY INVITATION ONLY - Climate Change, Conflict and Cooperation in Southern Africa
Date: 2011-09-23
Venue: , ISS Conference Room,
Block C, Brooklyn Court,
361 Veale Street, New Muckleneuk, Pretoria,
(Parking in Brooklyn Mall and ABSA court)
Climate Change, Conflict and Cooperation
in Southern Africa
Regional
Dialogue
supported
by
Background
On the international level, the debate on security
implications of climate change has gained great momentum over the past years.
Today, there is little doubt that climate change poses one of the key
challenges for global economic development and human well-being and may put
peace and security at risk. At a continental level, the African Union
Commission has recently started discourse on this topic, with a view to
stimulating response and regional cooperation across Africa. Among the key
risks identified are scarcity of natural resources such as water, food, and
energy. Due to these scarcities and as a result of extreme weather events such
as floods and storms, also increasing migration movements are expected. The
countries of Southern Africa will be among the most severely affected by
climate change. Rising temperatures as well as changing precipitation patterns
will challenge food, water, and energy security in the entire region.
At the same time, climate change policies offer potential
pathways for regional cooperation and benefit sharing and can create new
chances for economic and social development, e.g. through the implementation of
sustainable solutions in the energy sector and more generally, joint strategies
for a low carbon economy.
Political
Context
The Regional Dialogue in Pretoria follows up on the
concerns raised by, among others, a 2009 United Nations report from
Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon on the possible security implications of climate
change. In addition, the Security Council discussed the security implications
of climate change under the German Council presidency in July 2011 with the
result of a Presidential Statement emphasizing the importance of addressing the
security risks. The German Federal Foreign Office supports this and further
regional dialogues on this topic to move from risk analysis to preventive
actions.
Objectives
of the Regional Dialogue
In the light of the challenges outlined above, the
Dialogue aims to identify options to intensify regional cooperation and to
minimize threats for development, livelihoods and peace. By bringing together decision
makers and experts from the region as well as from Europe a dialogue process
should be initiated to address inter alia the following questions:
- What are
the likely hot-spots of conflict in Southern Africa that may be exacerbated by
climate changes?
- What can
be done to mitigate the likelihood or extent of these conflicts? What are
appropriate governance models and/or response mechanisms?
- How can conflict
constellations be transformed into opportunities for regional cooperation and
benefit sharing, e.g. in the realm of water, food, and energy?
- What are
the required parameters for regional climate resilient foreign policy given the
additional stress of climate change?
- What are
the key entry points for integrating climate change into the continental and regional
security infrastructure?
Participants
The Regional Dialogue aims at
bringing together experts from the foreign and security as well as climate
policy community. This includes decision makers from South Africa, neighboring
countries and Germany and the UK as well as experts from Southern Africa such
as the Institute for Security Studies(ISS).
