L-R: Michael Werz, Centre for American Progress, www.nexus25.com; Eamon Ryan, Irish Environment & Transport Minister; Suzi Carla Barbosa, Guinea-Bissau Foreign Minister; François Bausch, Luxembourg Defence Minister; Erling Rimestad, Norway State Secretary;
Credit: MAEE
On Tuesday 11 October 2022, at the invitation of Germany's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbock, Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, François Bausch, participated as a speaker at the Berlin Climate and Security Conference (BCSC).
Minister Bausch spoke alongside ministers from eleven other countries at the launch event of the Climate, Environment, Peace and Security Initiative, which Luxembourg will support. This initiative intends to accelerate coordinated and concrete action tackling the impact of climate change on security and preventing new conflicts, particularly in fragile contexts.
During his speech, Minister Bausch emphasised the importance of conflict prevention and the inclusion of non-traditional threats, such as climate change, in European, NATO and national defence policies: "In Luxembourg, we consider that defence is not only about deterring and tackling traditional 'hard' security threats, but also about supporting initiatives to prevent conflicts and strengthen environmental peacemaking".
At the conference, Luxembourg's Defence Minister also had a working meeting with Hassoumi Massaoudou, Niger's Minister of State and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. The two ministers discussed the deteriorating security situation, the impact of climate change and the presence of Russia through mercenary groups in the Sahel region.
Over two days, the fourth edition of the BCSC, titled "Climate – Conflict – Clash of Crises: Weathering the Risks", will bring together leading figures from governments, international organisations, research and academia to discuss ways and means of reducing the impact of climate change on security and supporting countries to build resilience.
