Planetary Security Conference

For its third edition, the Planetary Security Conference (PSI) will take place on 12-13 December in The Hague, following the success of previous years.

Climate change is increasingly recognized as a challenge to international peace and security. Although environmental factors are rarely the sole cause of violent conflict, climate change can be seen as a ‘threat multiplier’ that exacerbates environmental challenges and natural resource scarcity, and contributes to the onset of violence both within and between states. With this in mind, the international community must better understand the climate-conflict nexus and cooperate to address its possible adverse impacts.

Launched in 2015 by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the PSI aims to enhance political awareness and knowledge of the climate-conflict nexus, promote good practices on addressing its adverse impacts, build an inclusive community comprising all relevant stakeholders (both governmental and non-governmental), and create a platform for enhanced global cooperation. Led by a consortium of leading think tanks working on this topic, the goal of this year’s Conference is to strengthen the knowledge-policy interface by consolidating the community of practice on planetary security, or to move “From Analysis to Action”, as the theme of the Conference signals.

HCSS participates in the PSI Consortium together with the Clingendael Institute, the Centre for Climate and Security, Adelphi and SIPRI. Ahead of this year’s Conference, HCSS together with the Clingendael Institute will publish a report that builds on the Planetary Security Monitor launched in 2016, and pays particular attention to climate resilience and security on an urban level. The paper will aim to use data to monitor the role of cities in conflict and climate change as well as to help city planners and decision makers identify possible steps to use (data) analysis to take action on the ground.

Read the 2016 report by HCSS & the Clingendael Institute: The Economics of Planetary Security: Climate Change as an Economic Conflict Factor and access the Planetary Security Monitor here.