Michaela Spaeth, The Hague Roundtable on Climate & Security.
On Thursday September 12th, The Hague Roundtable on Climate & Security discussion was held for the 10th time under the direction of Matt Luna. The roundtable, followed by a networking lunch, was hosted by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in The Hague at the Residence of the Ambassador. The theme of this session was Extreme Weather Disasters: Resilience, Cooperation and Forecasting–Implications for Global Peace and Security.
With the forum’s primary mission being “to promote international cooperation in adapting to climate risks to human well-being, sustainable development, peace and political stability”, the agenda of the panel was centered around effectively cooperating in the issues related to matters such as water resources or migration, working to prevent natural disasters, as well as potential conflict, and lastly, to provide the aid needed to stabilise fragile states.
The speakers of the panel, including numerous ambassadors, were joined by Mr. Ronald Jackson, Head of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) on video.
Mr. Jackson was reporting on recovery missions in the Bahamas following Hurricane Dorian, and stressing the steps towards building future resilience against such climate change-related natural disasters. During this half-day conference, the representatives of the individual countries also proposed various suggestions and strategies for the future term of 4-5 years.
Among the guests were Jamie Shea (Former NATO Dep. Asst. Sec. Gen. for Emerging Security Challenges), Michaela Spaeth (Director for Energy and Climate Policy, German Federal Foreign Office), Maarten van Aalst, (Director of Red Cross Climate Centre & Professor of Spatial Resilience for Disaster Risk Reduction at University of Twente), and Ann Vaughan (Mercy Corps, Advocacy Lead / Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance).
During the closing remarks, all of the participants expressed their willingness to work towards a joint preventative action which would enable for an effective resilience-building in the times of imminent environmental threats caused by the climate changes.
Diplomat Magazine has been showing its support for several successive years during which The Hague Roundtable has been taking place.
