Drivers and obstacles of the UN Climate Change Agenda




War Studies show

Summary: What's the UN's role in addressing the security risks of climate change? And what are the obstacles faced by UN bodies in meeting these challenges? In the second episode of this five-part mini-series on Climate Change and National Security, Dr Duraid Jalili from the King’s Environmental Security Research Group and Professor Matt McDonald from the University of Queensland, speak to Dr Lucile Maertens, Senior Lecturer at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. As a leading expert on the actions being taken by international organisations relating to climate change and securitisation, Dr Maertens will discuss the ways in which the climate change agenda is being driven at the UN and the obstacles affecting the implementation of these principles. From the fear that bringing climate change at the UN Security Council will give too much power for the UN over national sovereignty, to the ignorance, competition and collaboration of different UN entities, she shares how much the UN is engaging with wider perspectives on the security implications of climate change, beyond its potential status as a driver of conflict