Statement in the open debate of the UN Security Council on Energy, Security and Climate
Madam President, Secretary-General,
Introduction
The Netherlands welcomes this important initiative to hold a debate on Energy, Security and Climate. It has come at the right time.
The primary responsibility of the Security Council is to maintain peace and security. Understandably, the Council tends to focus on current conflicts. Sometimes however, we need to look beyond the horizon of current conflict to explore the challenges and threats the future may bring to security.
I refer here to the very useful discussion in this Council on the impact of HIV/AIDS on peace and security in Africa.
Millions and millions of people will listen to and watch the Live Earth concerts on 7 July. They will wonder what world leaders are and will be doing to reduce the risk of climate change. The discussion here today underlines this Council's commitment.
Urgency
The recent IPCC Report clearly shows, stronger than ever before, that action is urgently needed. The world is being exposed to the increasingly devastating effects of climate change. And climate change may well have far-reaching and potentially dramatic consequences for security in regions throughout the world, such as shortages of water and food, health problems, population movements, and environmental and social stress. Even new sources of conflict may emerge. Disasters might occur more frequently and with more devastating effect.
According to UN estimates, by 2010 the world will have 50 million environmental refugees even without taking the impact of climate change into account. The IPCC report refers to an 80% chance that availability of water in subtropical areas will substantially decline.
By 2050, billions of people will be coping with an inadequate or even non-existent water supply. It is obvious that this will have not only social, economic and humanitarian, but also security implications.
Climate, peace and security are in our view global public goods of crucial importance. Though the poorest countries have contributed the least to climate change, they will be the most seriously affected by it. And they lack the knowledge, capacity and resources to deal with it. That problem must be addressed.
We have to ensure that countries can cope with the risks posed by climate change. This is of immediate importance. Not only individual countries but also UN agencies, the World Bank and other institutions have an important role to play in ensuring full-fledged disaster preparedness.
Prevention: mitigation and adaptation
For this to happen, the 2005 Summit has called for a Culture of Prevention. Timely addressing climate change and identifying its potential security risks can help prevent conflicts.
We urge the Secretary-General of the United Nations to alert the Security Council on climate related crisis situations, which might endanger peace and security.
The two main priorities of today in dealing with climate change and related security risks are to reduce emissions and to adapt to the impact of climate change. It is urgent now to mitigate current trends.
It is in my view, unacceptable and irresponsible that negotiations for a post 2012 arrangement are in deadlock. We cannot wait.
Mitigation
As the German EU Presidency has just stated, the EU has shown leadership in an effort to overcome the deadlock. Without waiting to see what other countries would do, the EU leaders decided this spring that emissions must be cut by 20% by 2020. The Netherlands even wants to achieve a 30% cut. This should reduce the risk of climate change to an acceptable interim level, but efforts need to be continued beyond that date. However, everything will depend on the commitment of every country concerned.
I am referring here not only to the large industrial countries, but also to all economies that contribute to the growth of CO2 emissions.
The UN negotiations for a post 2012 arrangement will be crucial if we are to make that commitment together and we urge Member Sates to take political initiatives to make this possible.
Adaptation
Climate change is making it more difficult and more expensive to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. It means that poverty will prevail for longer. That is unacceptable. We have to stand by the goals we set ourselves in 2000. Addressing climate change means addressing the Millennium Development Goals.
The IPCC also points out that sustainable development can make countries less vulnerable to climate change by enhancing their adaptive capacity and increasing their resilience.
Madam President,
As is well known, the Netherlands has a special relationship with water. Much of the country is below sea level. The Dutch government will continue to take action to secure it from the effects of further rises in sea level. We are willing to share our knowledge with other delta countries, particularly in the developing world. But the Netherlands is not only preparing for threats from the sea. We are also taking account of our rivers, the Rhine for instance, that flow into the Netherlands from our neighbouring countries. Water availability in catchments’ areas will change and this might well influence stability between countries, even between regions. We are working with countries such as those in the Nile, Zambezi and Mekong Basins to cope with climate change and ensure water supply stability. The aim is to build confidence and promote peaceful mutually beneficial solutions.
Financing and legal issues
Mitigation and adaptation will require new funding based on the principle that the polluter pays.
Those who are most responsible for climate change should also be the ones to pay most towards mitigating its effects. Carbon markets play an important role. As an innovative way of funding adaptation a levy on carbon dioxide emissions and other innovative financing mechanisms might be further studied. I propose that the World Bank and the UN actively continue exploring ideas for innovative financing.
International legal instruments are also needed to deal with the consequences of climate change. Extensive knowledge already exists in this field. We need to bring the experts together with policymakers, politicians, diplomats and NGOs. The Netherlands will be happy to facilitate conferences and policy debates in The Hague, the legal capital of the world and take a political initiative to further this.
Role of UNSG
Madam President,
I highly appreciate this discussion today in the Security Council. Tony Blair underlined the mismatch between the global challenges we face and the global institutions available to confront them. The UN needs to be streamlined to meet those challenges effectively.
We wholeheartedly applaud Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s decision to make climate change one of his priorities. Climate change requires us to reassess security risks, so that we can take adequate preventive and corrective measures. I invite the Secretary-General not only to alert the Security Council on risks to peace and security, but also to instruct UN agencies to support preventive measures. I strongly encourage him to continue working towards a World Summit on Climate Change.
Such a Summit and today’s debate have to contribute to address the problems of Climate Change. We owe it to our children and future generations and the billions of fellow citizens, who will experience the huge Live Earth Event on July 7th, will rightly ask us.
Thank you.