Delivered by: Ghasaq Shaheen, Political Coordinator
Thank you, Madame President.
Many thanks to our briefers, as well as to Kenya and Norway, for spotlighting the issue of climate security on the Council agenda. The UAE is pleased to co-sponsor this event alongside our main organizers.
I would like to make three points today on how climate-informed interventions can enhance prospects for peace.
First, careful analysis of climate impacts – which has been severely lacking – needs to inform and shape the responses of the peacebuilding architecture. This is particularly relevant in places such as the Sahel, where climate change plays an amplifying role in triggering conflict over scarce resources. As a result of growing land pressures, desertification, and rapid urbanization, farmer – herder tensions and competition for resources are on the rise. We also know that extremist groups often seek to take advantage of such situations by exploiting tensions in order to drive recruitment and tear apart the fabric of communities. In such contexts, climate-informed responses have a great potential to yield outcomes that can lead to more lasting peace and community resilience. The international community needs to design plans, such as climate-informed mediation strategies with UN entities, such as the Peacebuilding Commission and the Peacebuilding Fund playing a coordinator role.
Second, peacebuilding support and climate action must target women directly and ensure their full, equal, and meaningful participation. With their roles as primary providers of food, water, and energy in their households, they hold the key to unlocking climate adaptation and strengthening climate resilience. The recent meeting of the PBC with the members of the Central Asian Women Leaders’ Caucus showcased positive impacts of leveraging the nexus between gender, climate, and peacebuilding. The unique experiences of the Women Caucus and UNRCCA’s role in encouraging the mainstreaming of women’s voices in addressing climate impacts is a model that could be replicated elsewhere.
Lastly, I want to reference the proposal put forward by the SG for a ‘New Agenda for Peace’. If we want our global security governance architecture to be up to the tasks of the 21st century, the security implications of climate change need to be featured prominently in the New Agenda for Peace. The Agenda offers a chance for us to think strategically about how the UN system can respond to climate insecurity throughout the peace continuum – from peacebuilding, through mediation, to peacekeeping. As the president and host of COP28, the UAE looks forward to working with all partners in the year to come to build on the successful outcomes of COP27 under the leadership of Egypt.
Thank you.