Michael Müller, Parliamentary State Secretary in the German Environment Ministry, Georg Boomgarden, State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office, and Karin Kortmann, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, today jointly opened a European conference on putting environmental and resource protection to use for conflict prevention and development. The goal of the conference is to draw up recommendations for action addressed to EU institutions, with a view to better mainstreaming environment and security in the various strategies and policies of the EU.
Parliamentary State Secretary Michael Müller particularly emphasized the link between the current efforts for more climate protection and greater efficiency in the use of energy and raw materials as well as the promotion of renewable energy on the one hand and peacebuilding and conflict prevention on the other. "Environment, peace and development are mutually dependent. We are increasingly succeeding in raising the interest of heads of state in these issues – which is urgently needed indeed. I am thus very grateful to the European Commission that it has now announced new initiatives, because as Europeans we are able to take an even more credible stand, independent of national interests."
In his statement, the State Secretary in the Federal Foreign Office, Georg Boomgarden, underlined the impact of anthropogenic environmental change on global security and on national and European security structures. He noted that environmental change could potentially further exacerbate existing economic, political and social tensions, and pointed out that long-term environmental processes such as climate change thus needed to be given sufficient attention in comprehensive security analyses.
Parliamentary State Secretary Karin Kortmann stated, "Development policy as a global structural and peace policy makes a decisive contribution to ecological and human security. Environmental change, development processes and conflicts are developing ever greater mutual impacts. The developing countries are doubly affected by this – they suffer under the consequences of climate change and environmental degradation, and they struggle with poverty. This explosive constellation often results in social and political conflict, displacement and migration. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), as many as 20 million people are already becoming what is called environmental refugees every year. There are fears that this number could rise to 50 million by 2010. Development cooperation will thus increasingly be taking place in a setting characterized by environmental and conflict issues. Environmental and developmental cooperation endeavors are thus indispensable, they can help prevent crises. We need to integrate the policy fields of environment, development and conflict management more closely, developing more responses that are based on a multi-sector, whole-of-government approach, within Germany, in Europe, and worldwide. However, it is important to realize that nonmilitary security risks cannot be eliminated by military means. This insight also needs to be reflected in the ratio of military spending to spending on development cooperation."
The conference, which was planned jointly by the German Environment Ministry, Federal Foreign Office and Development Ministry, in cooperation with Adelphi Consult, as part of Germany's EU Presidency, will be taking place today and tomorrow at the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government, with the participation of the EU Commission and the EU Council Secretariat as well as about 160 experts from EU member states. Another government-level conference on this issue is to be held on 24 May.
