The resolution tabled by Ireland and Niger called on UN Secretary-General António Guterres to draw up a report on the security implications of the ‘adverse effects of climate change’. The text called for “the incorporation of information on the security implications of climate change” to enable the Council to “pay due attention to any root causes of conflict and risk-increasing factors”.
The proposal was supported by 113 of the 193 UN member states, including twelve of the fifteen members of the Security Council. China abstained. In addition to Russia, India also voted against, but it has no veto power. It has only five permanent board members: Russia, China, the USA, France and Britain.
The authority has in the past adopted resolutions mentioning the destabilizing effects of climate change, for example in some African countries or Iraq. However, Monday’s resolution may have been the first purely focus on security threats related to climate issues, the AP said.
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The Council rejects the reality of the world, says Niger
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said the resolution was unacceptable to Russia. Moscow does not question climate change, but its effects need to be assessed region by region, he said. According to Něbenzja, “general and automatic” views on the causes of conflicts divert the Council’s attention from their settlement.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said there was “no justification” for the veto. “The climate crisis is a security crisis,” the AP quoted her as saying. Representatives of Ireland and Niger criticized in their reactions that the permanent members could block the resolutions unilaterally. According to them, the Council refuses to recognize the reality of today’s world.
UN security chief Guterres spoke about the security risks associated with climate change last week. Climate change is a “aggravating factor” for instability, conflict and terrorism, he warned. As a result of the changes, the most vulnerable areas “suffer from insecurity, poverty, poor governance and the scourge of terrorism”.
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