'Majority of UN peace operations are deployed in contexts that are highly climate exposed'- Briefing

The head of the Peace Operations department, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, said, “We already see a strong correlation between Member States facing fragility and those facing climate change. Of the 16 countries that are the most climate vulnerable, nine of them host a UN field mission, namely Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Mali, Haiti and Yemen.” Briefing the Security Council today (13 June) in New York, during a ministerial-level open debate on climate change, peace and security, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, said, “It is also important to note that the majority of UN peace operations are deployed in contexts that are both highly climate exposed and characterized by high levels of gender inequality.” According to him, “Military engineers in South Sudan are diverted to dealing with the floods and building of dikes on a fulltime basis so that they can safeguard critical infrastructure such as IDP camps, UNMISS’ own bases, major roads, and the airstrip.” “In Somalia,” he said, “years of conflict have ravaged the resilience of the State and communities.” He explained, “The current drought, the worst in four decades, compounds vulnerabilities and contributes to displacement, hunger and grievance.” Lacroix continued, “In Iraq, water scarcity, rising temperatures, and dust storms put heightened pressure on intercommunal relations.” The head of the Peace Operations department concluded, “In these and many other places, the cascading effects of climate change are reshaping the parameters for our work on conflict prevention, peacemaking, peacebuilding, and peacekeeping.”


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