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The Elephant in the Climate Room: Financing Sustainable Security and Supporting Future-Fit Systems
By Siena Cicarelli, Erin Sikorsky and Michael Werz
Every year, leaders of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank – as well as key stakeholders from civil society, the private sector and regional financial bodies – gather to assess the landscape of international development finance. This year, they will do so against the backdrop of a complex geopolitical landscape, where one of the most consequential election years in human history, continued conflict in Ukraine and Gaza, and increasingly frequent extreme weather events have divided multilateral bodies and strained the funding landscape.
While this year’s agenda will cover everything from water security to streamlining taxation, one key challenge will dominate discussions: the staggering costs of the green transition and how these relatively inflexible financial institutions can evolve to support global climate adaptation, mitigation and resilience building – particularly in fragile, conflict-affected and violent situations (FCV). As seen at 28th UN climate conference (COP28) and the 2024 World Bank Fragility Forum, most stakeholders recognize that existing efforts are falling short and are eager to move from admiring the problem to identifying tangible steps and best practices needed to address this challenge.
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Nexus 25 Project Launches New Podcast, “Reshaping Multilateralism”
In early March, the Nexus25 project officially launched a new podcast, “Reshaping Multilateralism,” a series at the intersection of food, climate, security, and migration. The first teaser episode provides an overview of today’s top nexus challenges and some initial solutions for multilateral leaders. To discuss, Host Thin Lei Win was joined by the three experts leading Nexus25‘s work:
- Michael Werz, a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and a Senior Adviser for North America and Multilateral Affairs to the Munich Security Conference;
- Erin Sikorsky, the Director of the Center for Climate and Security and the International Military Council on Climate and Security; and
- Nathalie Tocci, the Director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali and part-time Professor at the School of Transnational Governance at the European University Institute.
The Nexus25 project is a joint Istituto Affari Internazionali/Center for Climate and Security initiative funded by Stiftung Mercator. The teaser is available on the Nexus25 website here, or wherever you get your podcasts. The next episode, “The View from MSC,” will be released on March 28th.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing: Need for Stronger US Leadership on Food Security in a Time of Climate Crisis
By Ethan Wong and Siena Cicarelli
On March 6, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) held a hearing on global food security featuring testimony from Dina Esposito, Assistant to the Administrator, Bureau for Resilience, Environment, and Food Security at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and Dr. Cary Fowler, Special Envoy for Global Food Security at the US Department of State.
This hearing came at a critical time for development, diplomatic and food security leaders alike. In her testimony, Ms. Esposito noted that over 735 million people are chronically hungry and the state of global food security is only worsening. Ongoing and emerging conflicts continue to drive food insecurity, particularly through the weaponization of food, as seen in Gaza and Ukraine. At the same time, shifting weather patterns and increasing climate extremes have threatened global supply chains and future food production. These recent shocks highlight the urgent nexus between hunger, climate, and conflict – and the need for greater US leadership in building resilient and future-fit food systems.
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Supporting Sustainable Security in a Hot and Hungry World
Policymakers are increasingly acknowledging the impact of transnational challenges, such as food and climate issues, on driving conflicts. The global famine has reached unprecedented levels, highlighting the intricate connections between hunger, climate change, and global security. The escalating violence in Africa, the Middle East, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, coupled with the visible impact of climate change, exacerbates global food insecurity.
Despite the challenges, food presents an opportunity for multilateral cooperation. The process of mainstreaming food security into multilateral processes has begun, but significant gaps remain, particularly in the limited allocation of climate finance to green transitions in food systems.
This paper emphasizes the long-term and systemic nature of food security challenges, driven by development, security, governance, and environmental factors. Conflict can worsen hunger, and food insecurity can increase security risks, particularly for vulnerable populations. In addition, terrorist organizations may use food as a means of recruitment and control.
Therefore, it is important to integrate food security into interventions and climate finance efforts, and to have a comprehensive understanding of the interplay between food security, climate risks, political instability, and conflict. To move forward, it is important to recognize food as a predictive tool, shift away from donor-driven approaches, and discourage policy silos in order to address the intersection of hunger, climate, and security.