The Green New World Order
Special meeting to discuss 'green helmets' force to intervene in conflicts caused by rising seas levels and shrinking resources
A special meeting of the United Nations security council is due to consider whether to expand its mission to keep the peace in an era of climate change.
There has been talk, meanwhile, of a new environmental peacekeeping force – green helmets – which could step into conflicts caused by shrinking resources reports the UK Guardian.
The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon, is expected to address the meeting on Wednesday.
But Germany, which called the meeting, has warned it is premature to expect the council to take the plunge into green peacemaking or even adopt climate change as one of its key areas of concern.
Small island states, which could disappear as sea levels rise, want the UN security council to intervene. |
"A good first step would be to acknowledge the realities of climate change and its inherent implications to international peace and security," he wrote.
Bringing the security council up to speed on climate change could be a challenge, however.
The Pentagon and other military establishments have long recognized climate change as a "threat multiplier" with the potential to escalate existing conflicts, and create new disputes as food, water, and arable land become increasingly scarce.
Wittig seems to agree, noting that UN peacekeepers have long intervened in areas beyond traditional conflicts.
"Repainting blue helmets into green might be a strong signal - but would dealing with the consequences of climate change - say in precarious regions - be really very different from the tasks the blue helmets already perform today?" he wrote.
Don't worry. We are from the United Nations and we are here to help you. |
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