SIPRI had an active and engaged presence at this year’s Munich Security Conference, 18–20 February. With climate change as one of the focus themes of the conference, SIPRI hosted a round-table discussion titled ‘An Environment of Peace: The Challenge of Securing both Peace and a Sustainable Environment’, chaired by Dan Smith, SIPRI Director. Espen Barth Eide, Norwegian Minister of Climate and Environment and former Foreign and Defence Minister, provided framing remarks, highlighting the urgent need for the brown-to-green transition.
The discussion considered the risks posed to peace and security by climate change and environmental degradation, and focused on ideas for managing these risks, as well as what potential opportunities lie ahead. At the core of the session was the work of SIPRI’s Environment of Peace initiative, which will synthesize the best available evidence on environmental change and its societal, political and security impacts. The Environment of Peace initiative will launch a major report in May 2022, presenting new insights on the risks, challenges and promising solutions.
The report will be released during the 2022 Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development, a few days ahead of the high-level United Nations conference, ‘Stockholm+50: A Healthy Planet for the Prosperity of All—Our Responsibility, Our Opportunity’.
Smith also spoke with the media, including Al Jazeera English and Swiss Radio, and held several high-level bilateral discussions. He participated in several sessions and events on topics ranging from the geoeconomics of climate change to arms control and delivered the keynote address at the BMW Foundation’s event on the climate crisis and peacebuilding.
Read more about the Environment of Peace initiative.
Watch a recent Peace Points episode with Smith reflecting on the current environmental crisis and the upcoming Environment of Peace report.
Media contact
For information and interview requests contact SIPRI Communications Officer Alexandra Manolache (alexandra.manolache@sipri.org, +46 766 286 133).