E3G

L’Europa nel Mondo: Speech by British Ambassador

By Chris Littlecott

One thing that struck me about this report was the comparison between the challenges the European Union faces now, with those it faced at its inception 50 years ago. I’d like to highlight just one comparison.

The report says that energy and climate security must become central to the work of the EU in the way that food security was in the past. The over-riding challenge when the EU was created, in the aftermath of the 2nd World War, was how to feed our citizens. Self-sufficiency in agriculture was core to our security, health and prosperity. Whatever criticisms there are of the Common Agricultural Policy - and there are many, which I won’t go into here! - it more than succeeded in its initial objective of producing enough food for Europe’s population.

Today we face an equally large and serious challenge. I’m talking about the challenge of energy security and the related issue of climate security. I agree with the statement in the report that climate and energy security are two sides of the same coin, so I address them here as one single challenge.

This is another challenge that affects the security, health and prosperity of our citizens. We only have to look at the costs in both human and economic terms of the heatwaves and floods Europe has experienced over recent years to see that. And what were once termed “extreme” weather conditions are predicted to become “normal” patterns over the coming decades, with the implications that has for our health and prosperity.

This is why the debate about climate change is moving out of the narrow confines of being an environmental issue, to become a social, economic and security issue.

Last month the UK initiated a debate in the United Nations Security Council, under our Presidency, on Climate Security. Many wondered why a body such as the Security Council should be considering climate change.

I think that was answered by the interventions of representatives from some of those countries most at risk. The Congolese delegate said “this will not be the first time people have fought over land, water and resources, but this time it will be on a scale that dwarfs the conflicts of the past”. The Ghanaian representative spoke about nomadic cattle herdsmen arming themselves with assault rifles to confront local farming communities.