Carnegie Europe
Climate change will profoundly impact humanity’s relationship with the environment and disrupt geopolitics, economics, security, and governance around the world.
To adapt to the changing realities and lead climate action, Europe will need to anticipate challenges and reconcile democratic and institutional resilience with local, national, and international ambitions.
There will be no respite when European leaders return from a summer break punctuated by floods, cyber attacks, coronavirus, and challenges to the EU’s rule of law. All the more reason for them to explain to citizens what is at stake for Europe’s future.*
To fulfill its ambition of becoming an effective geopolitical power, the EU should place ecological security and diplomacy at the heart of its foreign and security policy. This approach should entail practical and innovative strategies that pursue systemic regeneration at home and abroad.
EU funding mobilized for the Western Balkans’ green transformation could ultimately flow right into the coffers of Russia and China. The European Commission cannot ignore the geopolitical implications of its Green Agenda for the region.
Climate change will increase the potential for humanitarian crises and instability. To strengthen the EU's capacity to prevent conflict and manage crises, climate security should be integrated into the Common Security and Defense Policy.
The EU is preparing a new deforestation package with international dimensions. After failing to meet its target of halting deforestation by 2020, this time the union must be aggressively ambitious. That means changing business-as-usual strategic and geo-economic behavior.
The EU prides itself on being a bold climate leader with the aim of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. But the union is banking on incremental change. The world simply cannot afford such timid action, or indeed hypocrisy.
As the security implications of global climate change are becoming clearer, NATO has invited climate change and security specialists from governments, think tanks, and academia to offer inputs and analyses.
In the French city of Orléans, citizens, experts, and politicians are working together to advance climate transition in an innovative form of public engagement that aims for a new type of “social contract” around climate action.
Europe will have to juggle environmental concerns, access to resources, and the Arctic’s growing geostrategic role. This will require cooperation with all the major players, including China, if the region is to remain stable and peaceful.
Russia and the United States will increasingly face disruptions such as droughts, fires, floods, and hurricanes. Climate change will either become just another topic of discord or an area of proactive cooperation.
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