New CCS Briefers on Climate Misinformation and Geoengineering
By Tom Ellison and Erin Sikorsky
Today CCS released two new briefers on critical and related topics in climate security: mis- and disinformation, and geoengineering.
The first, “Climate Security and Misinformation: A Baseline” offers a framework and overview on how intensifying climate change and policy responses create openings for bad actors to spread mis- and disinformation. These challenges extend beyond climate denialism and intersect with the breadth of direct and indirect climate security risks, ranging from the scapegoating of climate disasters on adversaries, to incitement against climate migrants and protesters, to misleading obstruction of the energy transition, to state efforts to stoke climate- and energy-related divisions in their adversaries. Amid rapidly evolving digital technology and low trust, addressing these challenges means closing knowledge gaps, designing climate policies with disinformation pitfalls in mind, and more aggressively countering climate mis- and disinformation, akin to election interference or vaccine denial.
Meanwhile, “Geoengineering and Climate Change in an Age of Disinformation and Strategic Competition” dives deep into the debate about the risks and benefits of exploring geoengineering, particularly solar radiation management, a nascent climate intervention technique that would aim to artificially dim the sun and ameliorate global warming. A steady drumbeat of reports from governments and scientific institutions argue for developing research programs to allow for better informed decisions on the risks and benefits of geoengineering. At the same time, the national security community is raising concerns emphasizing the risk of large-scale, successful unilateral deployment by a middle or rogue power. However, the more acute, near-term security risks associated with geoengineering have little to do with the ultimate effect of such interventions, but instead with the perceptions of such interventions or even research and testing of such technologies, particularly in a world shaped by geopolitical competition, growing divides between the Global North and Global South, and dis/misinformation.
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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February/March 2024 Update: Military Responses to Climate Hazards (MiRCH) Tracker
By Ethan Wong
In February and March 2024 , the Military Responses to Climate Hazards (MiRCH) documented 21 military deployments in response to floods, extreme precipitation, droughts, and wildfires in 12 countries, including Australia, Honduras, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, the United States, and elsewhere.
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Reshaping Multilateralism Episode 1: The View from the Munich Security Conference
On March 28, the Nexus25 project released its first full episode of Reshaping Multilateralism, a podcast at the climate-insecurity-migration nexus. Episode 1, “The View from MSC: Sustainable Security in a Hot and Hungry World,” takes listeners inside the Munich Security Conference where, in a period of renewed Israel-Palestine conflict, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and debates over the China challenge, this year’s attendees attempted to broker agreements on the security implications of climate change – and how to build more resilient societies, militaries and food systems in response.
Nexus25 co-lead Dr. Michael Werz, World Food Programme Berlin Director Dr. Martin Frick, and Sudanese climate activist Nisreen Elsaim offered their reflections on MSC2024, the current state of global food security, and what to keep an eye on in the multilateral space this spring.
“Reshaping Multilateralism” is a production of the Nexus25 project, a joint Istituto Affari Internazionali / Center for Climate and Security initiative funded by Stiftung Mercator in Germany and produced in partnership with storielibere.fm. Subscribe via your favorite podcast platform, visit www.nexus25.org, and stay tuned for insider analysis from global experts on global security, climate security, climate finance, the future of multilateralism, and more.
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