A UN meeting stresses need for combating adverse effects of climate change

UNITED NATIONS: An informal Security Council meeting, convened by Pakistan and Britain, Friday discussed the security dimensions of climate change, with the participants voicing strong resolve to deal with the devastating impact of extreme weather and rising seas on lives and infrastructure, especially in low-lying countries.

The "Arria formula" meeting, marked by high-level participation, was co-chaired by the Pakistan UN Ambassador Masood Khan and his British counterpart Mark Lyall Grant.

(The 'Arria formula', named after a former Venezuelan ambassador to the UN, is a very informal consultation process which affords members of the Security Council the opportunity to hear persons in a confidential, informal setting.) Also attending were the general membership of the UN and civil society to discuss.

A press release issued by the Pakistan Mission to the UN said it discussed the potential threats posed by possible adverse effects of climate change to the maintenance of international peace and security.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gave the opening address. All participants laid considerable emphasis on the need for arresting the existential threat posed to the Small Island States, according to the press release.

By coming together, it said, Pakistan and Britain have sent a strong signal that climate change does not distinguish on the basis of the level of development.

"It is a reality for all that cannot be wished away. In order to address various ramifications of the climate change, all countries will continue to work together and redouble their efforts in overcoming the challenge."

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Masood Khan said, Intensified climate change is one of the most serious global problems our planet faces today.

Global warming, stronger cyclones, increased precipitation, recurrent droughts, climate volatility, and the rising sea levels all affect our national and international security interests.

These changes affect human security. "Climate change affects us all. It affects We the People of the United Nations. It affects all nations - big or small, rich or poor, developed or developing.

"The United Nations has a key role in responding to these challenges. We need action to guard our ecosystem, to save our infrastructure, and to ensure that food, water and land remain available. We need responsible stewardship of our planet. Our response should not be anchored only in politics; it should also be guided by science and technology.

Our response should not just counter immediate threats; it should forewarn and prepare us for the impending threats that impinge on our security.

In his closing remarks, Ambassador Masood Khan noted that the positive discussions that have taken a place would act as catalyst in galvanizing existing work and actions in all UN forums and organs to further strengthen efforts in combating climate change. Later, at a press conference, a Government minister from the Marshall Islands, a small Pacific country, urged the Security Council to consider climate change as a threat to international peace and security, particularly for such low-lying nations whose very existence was at risk.

"This organization [the Council] that we put faith in to provide the security of our country is saying that that is not a security matter," said Tony deBrum, Minister in Assistance to the President of the Marshall Islands, as he briefed journalists on today's Arria Formula meeting.

DeBrum said he had participated as a panellist and reminded the Council that 35 years ago, he had come to the United Nations to petition for the independence of the Marshall Islands.

Between 1976 and 1986, his delegation had annually visited the United Nations.

In 1986, the Security Council finally approved the termination of the trusteeship and the establishment of an independent Government for the Marshall Islands, he added.

"We are very grateful for that, but it is hard to be excited about the independent Government seeking prosperity, progress and good life for its people to be faced with the situation where its very existence is threatened through climate change," he said.

"It seems ironic that the very same agency whose approval was needed for my country to become a country again would consider my coming back to ask for help is not relevant to their work," he said.

There was no outcome document or a running record from that meeting, but he expected that his appeal had convinced some or more of the participants that climate change is in fact a security issue, not just an economic/social/political issue.

When asked which countries opposed treating climate change as the Council prerogative, he said China, Russian Federation and Guatemala were among them.

Surprisingly, the Group of 77 developing countries and China, of which the Marshall Islands was a member, had taken a position that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was the appropriate venue for deliberations on that issue.

That revealed that many of our own friends throughout the world do not realize the urgency of the problem, he said.

Describing the situation, he said rising tides had started severely impacting the islands, with roads inundated every 14 days in keeping with the moon cycle.

In southern parts of the nation, where there used to be a military base in the Second World War, ordnances were being exposed by the tides, presenting a clear danger to the life and welfare of people there.Even the nation's capital was required to ration water.

In the northern part, emergency kits for making drinking water were being distributed as well water was inundated with salt.

"It became unsuitable for human consumption, and dangerous even to our staple food and citrus," he said.

He said he was not predicting a looming crisis it was already happening, affecting not just his own country but also Kiribati, Tuvalu and some of the other low-lying islands of the Pacific.

He hoped that logic will prevail and people see it as a just cause.