On May 8th, HCSS had the honour to welcome Kay Harrison, New Zealand’s Climate Change Ambassador, for a discussion on climate security and the geopolitical implications of the Dutch / European climate policies and expectations for the coming years.
The Climate Change Ambassador represents New Zealand at international climate change meetings, summits and negotiations. She leads New Zealand’s delegation to meetings of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the negotiations of the Paris Agreement rulebook. Harrison is also Divisional Manager of the Climate Change Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
She was welcomed by HCSS deputy director Michel Rademaker and HCSS senior strategic analyst Laura Birkman, who presented the HCSS Climate and Security Programme (CASP). CASP seeks to bridge the gap between researchers, policymakers and practitioners working on climate-related security challenges in Europe and around the world.
The programme aims to develop and operationalize a realist framework and approach to climate action, raise awareness and understanding about the nexus between climate-related risk, instability and conflict, and provide data-driven assessments and early warning support to policy and decision makers
New Zealand’s international climate change work programme includes engagement on climate change with the Pacific, through trade agreements, regional associations, and in coalitions such as the Friends of Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform and the High Ambition Coalition. Its objectives are to seek an effective global response to climate change to which New Zealand contributes responsibly and through which Pacific climate resilience improves.
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