Russia on Monday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution formally linking climate change and global security that was supported by a majority of UN member states.
Backed by Niger and Ireland, the draft resolution called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to “integrate climate-related security risk as a central component into comprehensive conflict-prevention strategies.”
The text won support from 12 of the council’s 15 members.
Photo: UN via AP
China abstained, while India voted against it, saying that global warming is chiefly an issue related to economic development, rather than international security.
The resolution had called on the UN secretary-general to report within two years “on the security implications” of climate change on issues addressed by the council, and sought recommendations on how these risks could be addressed.
For diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity, Russia’s opposition was difficult to understand, given that the resolution itself “was not radical,” one of them said.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that there was “no justification” for the veto.
Before the vote, Irish Ambassador to the UN Geraldine Byrne Nason said that the resolution was only a “modest first step.”
“We need to better understand this link” between security and climate change, she said, adding: “We need to look at it globally.”
Nigerien Ambassador to the UN Abdou Abarry called opposition to the draft resolution “shortsighted.”
Following the vote, Nason and Abarry denounced vetoes — which permanent council members the US, Britain, France, Russia and China have been able to wield since the UN was founded after World War II — as “an anachronism.”
“This council will never live up to its mandate for international peace and security if it does not adapt. It must reflect the moment we are now living in, the threats to international peace and security which we now face,” they said.
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