The Joint Paper on “Climate Change and International Security” (CCIS) concluded that climate change is a threat multiplier and compromises the interests and security of the EU and its partners around the world. It outlined the main threats climate change poses and provides recommendations on how to tackle the implications of climate change. Three overarching recommendations were made:

• Enhancing capacities at the EU level, to improve the abilities of the EU and its Member States for early warning, analysis and response to climate-induced implications for security.

• EU multilateral leadership to promote global climate security and to build and implement a successful post-2012 international agreement on climate change.

• Cooperation with third countries to commence dialogue, create awareness, share analysis and cooperatively address the challenges of climate change.

The EU Council welcomed the report and requested the High-Representative and the European Commission (EC) to operationalise its recommendations and develop a plan of action to implement them. For this purpose, the EU Roadmap on Climate Change and International Security was drafted and developed in close collaboration between representatives of the EC, the Council Secretariat (SEC), as well as representatives of the EU presidency troika and Member States. The Roadmap covers the period from March 2008 to December 2009 and identifies a set of main activities to be pursued in this time frame. The following documents the main activities of the process a chronological order.

EU Documents

Council of the European Union 2009: Council conclusions on Climate change and security. 2985th FOREIGN AFFAIRS Council meeting Brussels, 8 December 2009.

High Representative 2008: Climate Change and Security: Follow-up recommendations by EUHR Solana

High Representative and European Commission 2008: Climate Change and International Security. Joint Paper to the European Council. Brussels.

European Commission 2008: The European Union and the Arctic Region.

European Commission 2009: EU Strategy for Supporting Disaster Risk Reduction in Developing Countries.

Consultations, Conferences and Dialogues

Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2009: Climate Change and International Security. Report on the High-Level Panel Debate in Copenhagen, 15th December 2009.

“Making the Difference – Strengthening Capacities to Respond to Crisis and Security Threats” , biannual conference conducted in Brussels on 3/4 June 2009.

Adelphi Research 2009: Climate Change and International Security. Towards a European Activity Mapping and Strategy Development. Executive Briefing. Berlin.

“Environment, Climate Change and Security: Facing the Challenges” , EU presidency conference conducted in Stockholm on 14/15 October 2009.

» more

Reports commissioned by EU bodies and Member States

Brown, O./Crawford, A. 2009: Climate Change and Security in Africa. A Study for the Nordic-African Foreign Ministers Meeting, Winnipeg: International Institute for Sustainable Development. Report commissioned by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Brown, O./Crawford, A. 2009: Rising Temperatures, Rising Tensions. Climate Change and the Risk of Violent Conflict in the Middle East, Winnipeg: International Institute for Sustainable Development. Report commissioned by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Brown, O./Crawford, A. 2008: Assessing the Security Implications of Climate Change in West Africa , Winnipeg: International Institute for Sustainable Development. Report commissioned by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Carius, A./Tänzler, D./Maas, A. 2008: Climate Change and Security. Challenges for German Development Cooperation, Eschborn: German Technical Cooperation (GTZ).

Maas, A./Tänzler, D. 2009: Regional Security Implications of Climate Change. A Synopsis, conducted for DG External Relations of the European Commission under a contract for the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Protection and Nuclear Safety, Adelphi Report 01/09, Berlin: Adelphi Consult.

Regional Scenarios for Climate Change and Scurity

Carius, A., Maas, A. and J. Barkemeyer 2009: Climate Change and Security. Two Scenarios for the Indian-Pacific Ocean Island States. Adelphi Research. Report prepared for the Directorate-General External Relations of the European Commission.

Carius, A. and A. Maas 2009: Climate Change and Security. Three Scenarios for Middle America. Adelphi Research. Report prepared for the Directorate-General External Relations of the European Commission.

Carius, A. and A. Maas 2009: Climate Change and Security. Two Scenarios for South East Asia. Adelphi Research. Report prepared for the Directorate-General External Relations of the European Commission.

Carius, A., Maas, A. and K. Fritzsche 2009: Climate Change and Security. Three Scenarios for South West Asia. Adelphi Research. Report prepared for the Directorate-General External Relations of the European Commission.

Activity Mapping of EU Bodies and Member States

Denmark (PDF)

Finland (PDF)

Germany (PDF)

Slovenia (PDF)

United Kingdom (PDF)

» more information on EU initiatives and policies with respect to environment and security is available in the EU section.

» general publications, initiatives and news regarding climate change is available here.