ThinkTankWeekly

Climate security should be a bigger priority at the Munich Security Conference

Chatham House | 2026-02-22 | energy

Topics: Climate, Europe, Indo-Pacific, Middle East, NATO, Trade

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English Summary

The article argues that the Munich Security Conference is underweighting climate and environmental risks, even though they are structural drivers of instability and should be treated as core security priorities. It points to climate’s reduced visibility in the 2026 MSC agenda and report, parallel downgrading in other fora, and country cases (including Haiti, Yemen, and Myanmar) where degraded livelihoods, water stress, and climate shocks worsened violence and undermined ceasefires. The author’s reasoning is that security analysis, conflict resolution, and peacebuilding fail when they ignore land, water, food, and energy pressures that shape grievances and state legitimacy. Policy-wise, it calls for embedding land restoration, water access, and climate-resilient livelihoods into stabilization and reconstruction, and advancing practical regional cooperation (e.g., EU, OSCE, NATO, AU) where global consensus is weak.

中文摘要

本文主張,慕尼黑安全會議對氣候與環境風險的重視不足,儘管這些風險是結構性不穩定的驅動因素,且應被視為核心安全優先事項。文章指出,氣候議題在2026年慕安會議程與報告中的能見度下降,其他論壇也出現平行降級,並列舉海地、葉門與緬甸等案例,說明生計惡化、水資源壓力與氣候衝擊如何加劇暴力並削弱停火。作者論證,若忽視形塑社會不滿與國家正當性的土地、水、糧食與能源壓力,安全分析、衝突解決與和平建構都將失效。政策上,文中呼籲將土地復育、用水可近性與氣候韌性生計納入穩定化與重建工作,並在全球共識薄弱時推動務實的區域合作(如歐盟、歐安組織、北約、非盟)。

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