Environment, Development and Security: New Ideas, Fast Action

On 01 September 2010 the Institute for Environmental Security, in co-operation with GLOBE EU and with the support of The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs / Development Co-operation, organised the meeting 'Environment, Development & Security: New Ideas, Fast Action'.

Copenhagen was a setback for attempts to limit greenhouse gas emissions and a failure for EU foreign & climate policy. Three months before Cancun is a good time to consider what innovative contributions the European Union can make ahead of Cancun.

One key to success lies in reviewing the way climate change is addressed by the development community. Abrupt climate change, with its increase in flooding, droughts, severe storms and food shortages, is doing direct damage to developing countries at the very moment when they need practical fast action rather than more rhetoric.

There are a number of new ideas that can make a difference in the immediate future if only the EU has the intellectual clarity, courage, and leadership to inject them into the political debate now.

The event was part of the IES Programme on Environmental Security for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA).

Conference Materials:

• Programme
• Opening Presentation:  Environment & Development: A new approach ahead of Cancun? - Tom Spencer, Vice Chair, Institute for Environmental Security
• Listen to the Presentations and Discussion X
• Report of the Meeting
• List of participants
• Photos

Related Events:

• Climate Change & Security after Copenhagen, Brussels, 17 February 2010
• Climate Change & Security at Copenhagen: New Thinking on the Atlantic Contribution to Success, Washington, D.C., 17 March 2009
• Climate Change and Security at Copenhagen II: Climate Change: The Contribution of the Global Security Community to Success, Brussels, 7-8 October 2009.
• Climate Change and Security at Copenhagen III: Climate Change: The Role of the Military , Washington, D.C., 29 October 2009.