In honor of the European Union’s (EU) Climate Diplomacy Day on June 17, 2015, the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center, in cooperation with the EU, hosted a discussion exploring the critical dynamic between climate change and global security. Panelists addressed the local and global actions that can be taken to reduce the stresses climate change has on economic, social, and political systems. They also discussed how security planners and actors should address the threat of climate change on international security and whether an international climate regime could contribute to reducing instability and conflict risks.
H.E. David O’Sullivan, Ambassador of the EU to the United States delivered an introduction and H.E. Gerard Araud, Ambassador of France to the United States, provided keynote remarks. Panelists included Sharon Burke, Senior Adviser to the New America Foundation’s International Security Program, Tom Burke, Founding Director and Chairman of E3G, Third Generation Environmentalism, Major General Munir Muniruzzaman (Ret.), Chairman of the Global Military Advisory Council on Climate Change (GMACCC) and President and CEO of the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS), and Dennis Tänzler, Director of International Climate Policy at Adelphi. The discussion was moderated by Dan Chiu, Deputy Director of the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security at the Atlantic Council and welcome remarks were provided by The Hon. Richard Morningstar, Founding Director of the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center.