When? 7 June 2021 | 10:00 – 11:30 AM EST / 4:00 – 5:30 PM CET
Join the Expert Group of the International Military Council on Climate and Security (IMCCS) for the launch of the 2021 World Climate and Security Report. Featuring remarks by:
- David van Weel, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges
- Lt. Gen. Richard Nugee, Climate Change and Sustainability Strategy Lead for the UK Ministry of Defence
- Sherri Goodman, Secretary General, IMCCS
- Gen. Tom Middendorp (Ret.), Chair, IMCCS
Background
The world has spent the past year mired by crises that have tested our collective health, resilience, and security. These global shocks should be seen as warning signs of disasters to come if the world continues on its current trajectory of climate change, which is already harmfully impacting security environments, infrastructure, institutions, lives and livelihoods. With the launch of the 2021 edition of the World Climate and Security Report (WCSR), the International Military Council on Climate and Security (IMCCS) looks to inform the global security audience on these growing risks, while offering important policy recommendations and opportunities for building resilience against them.
The WCSR 2021 is published by the IMCCS Expert Group, which consists of the Center for Climate and Security (CCS), an institute of the Council on Strategic Risks; the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS); The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS) and the Planetary Security Initiative of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations (Clingendael). The inaugural edition of the World Climate and Security Report was launched at the Munich Security Conference in 2020, and has helped to shape the global discussion on this topic over the past year.
In its 2021 edition, the World Climate and Security Report details the compound security threats posed by the convergence of climate change with other global risks, such as COVID-19, as well as the intensification of climate risks, as new disasters hit before societies can recover from or adapt to the impact of previous ones. It also identifies opportunities posed by the renewed U.S. commitment to climate action, and how to build on the climate security momentum from the EU and NATO. The report includes new and improved tools for tackling climate security — such as a new risk methodology for tracking the change in global climate risks, a second administered survey of climate security experts on future threat projections, and an evaluation of nascent best practices for confronting these risks, within militaries, diplomatic, and development entities.
