On Friday 16 June, SIPRI had the privilege of hosting a visit from Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria and a delegation from the European Union’s Political and Security Committee (PSC). The PSC is a permanent body within the EU that deals with security policy. The visit featured a panel discussion on the theme ‘Towards an Environment of Peace’, moderated by Dan Smith, SIPRI Director. The high-level participants included:
- Ambassador Delphine Pronk, Chair of the PSC
- Ambassador Elena Gomez Castro, Spain’s PSC Representative
- Ambassador Mikael Lindvall, Sweden’s PSC Representative
- Christine O’Dwyer, Malta’s PSC Representative
SIPRI staff and the PSC discussed the breadth and complexity of environment-related security risks around the globe, drawing from SIPRI’s Environment of Peace report. The conversation looked at how environmental degradation undermined human security and livelihoods in many regions, and how climate and environmental risks compounded and cascaded into countries far from their origin. The most vulnerable and the most fragile were hit the hardest.