Climate upheaval ‘a threat to security’
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned world leaders that climate change is a threat to the security of all nations, and sharply criticised people who say it is ‘‘green stuff from a bunch of tree-hugging tofu munchers’’.
He pointed to the impacts of changing sea levels and wildfires, but also the 16 million people displaced by weather-related disasters each year, some becoming prey to violent extremists; farmers losing another harvest because of drought and switching to growing opium poppies; and girls forced to drop out of school to search for water becoming prey to human traffickers.
‘‘It is a matter of when, not if, your country and your people will have to deal with these security impacts of climate change,’’ Johnson warned leaders at a high-level United Nations Security Council meeting on climaterelated risks to international peace and security.
Chairing yesterday’s meeting of the UN’S most powerful body during the United Kingdom’s presidency this month, Johnson urged it to demonstrate leadership to protect global peace, security and stability.
John Kerry, the United States special presidential envoy for climate, thanked European nations for stepping up to tackle climate change during the ‘‘inexcusable absence’’ of the US during the previous administration. Former president Donald Trump pulled the US out of the landmark 2015 Paris agreement aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.
Kerry said US President Joe Biden’s administration aimed to put the US on a route to cutting fossil fuel emissions in a way that was ‘‘irreversible by any president, by any demagogue in the future’’.
Kerry called the UN climate conference that Britain will host in Glasgow in November ‘‘literally our last best hope to get on track and get this right’’. Nations are expected at the conference to come up with more ambitious pollution cuts.
Saying he was ‘‘very happy’’ to see the US back at the table, France’s President Emmanuel Macron called on UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres to appoint a UN envoy for climate security. ‘‘What is at stake is our health, our lives and the stability of our planet.’’
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta stressed the impact of climate and security on Africa, which he lamented ‘‘unfortunately will suffer the worst consequences of climate change despite being the least responsible for global greenhouse gases’’.
Guterres called for a dramatic increase in investments to protect countries, communities and people ‘‘from increasingly frequent and severe climate impacts’’; and addressing the poverty, lack of food and displacement caused by climate disruptions that contributed to conflict.