On 7 October, the European Centre of Excellence for Civilian Crisis Management co-hosted a workshop with CMC Finland, the Folke Bernadotte Academy, SIPRI, and ZIF, on the sidelines of the Berlin Climate and Security Conference. The event, titled “Impact through partnerships: How international and regional organisations can advance the Climate, Peace and Security agenda,” brought together over 30 climate security actors from a range of organisations, including the UN, EU, NATO, and OSCE, to discuss how to build capacity, improve operational responses, and strengthen institutional partnerships with regards to climate security.

The event began with introductory remarks from CoE Director Dr. Volker Jacoby, followed by a State of Affairs session led by Tobias Pietz, Deputy Head of Policy, Partnerships & Innovation at ZIF. Representatives from the UN, EU, OSCE, and NATO presented their institutional responses to climate-related security risks, outlined current challenges, and provided information on where cooperation measures either exist or are needed.

Following this, participants were divided into subgroups to discuss the following topics:

• Building institutional capacity on climate security – Participants reflected on how best to build institutional capacity, how to increase the level of ambition, and how partnerships can be utilised to this effect.
• Operational responses to climate-related security risks – Experiences of operationalizing and implementing the Climate, Peace and Security (CPS) agenda were shared. Participants discussed how collaboration and partnership could be used to translate analysis into action.
• Strengthening institutional partnerships on climate security – Participants were invited to identify aspects that are currently missing within institutional partnerships on climate security and to share their vision for these partnerships moving forward.

Participants then returned to plenary to share highlights from their smaller-group discussions. These findings will be synthesised by the workshop organisers and published in the form of a policy note in the near future. 

The CoE was delighted to have co-hosted this workshop and to work with our partners in driving forward the CPS agenda. The Centre is committed to continuing our work Climate and Security, particularly in the context of EU civilian crisis management, and to building upon existing partnerships and learning from good practices.

For more information on the CoE’s Climate and Security portfolio please contact Ida Ericksson, Senior Advisor (ida.eriksson@coe-civ.eu).

To learn more about climate and security in the context of civilian crisis management, why not visit the CoE’s Knowledge Hub?