Interview with Louise van Schaik, The Hague The Planetary Security Initiative Reducing impacts emanating from environmental stresses

Reducing impacts emanating from environmental stresses

The Planetary Security Initiative

Interview with Louise van Schaik, Head of the Clingendael International Sustainability Centre and Project Lead of the Planetary Security Initiative, The Hague

The European: Ms van Schaik, you are the project lead of the Planetary Security Initiative (PSI) which was initiated by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2015. What was the motivation to unite five expert institutes from The Hague, Stockholm, Washington D.C. and Berlin in a consortium on this issue? Louise van Schaik: When we started our initiative in 2015, the aspect of climate change involving security was already subject to debate in the US, but in Europe there was less awareness about its ongoing impacts, and the issue was more considered as a future risk. At that time, the Netherlands was campaigning for a seat on the UN Security Council knowing that climate change was a topic close to the heart of a lot of its members, as well as those of the UN General Assembly. It gave the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which also includes climate vulnerable islands in the Caribbean, and is below sea level for about a third of the country, opportunity to share its knowledge on climate adaptation policies, for instance climate smart agriculture, integrated water management, flood protection, etc.

The European: I understand that the Planetary Security Initiative fit in very well with ongoing policy priorities. How did the Clingendael Institute, for which you work, initiate the PSI? Louise v. Schaik: The Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry first organised a conference, but then they thought it would be a good idea to have additional activities – smaller events, a website, etc. – throughout the year in order to raise visibility. The Ministry identified potential organisations to implement this initiative and sent out a tender asking organisations to make proposals, underlining that they would like also to involve international partners.

The European: …to really make it a planetary initiative. The PSI puts forth the concept of “planetary security”: is this different to what is called for example climate-related security? And what does planetary security include? Louise v. Schaik: The concept was invented by the Ministry. The idea behind it is that several environmental pressures in the world could constitute possible security risks. PSI is not about climate change alone, but also about other environmental pressures. Let’s say the planetary boundaries idea allows a broader approach, because sometimes problems are not only related to climate change but also to other factors. Take the example of water scarcity. People sometimes debate whether it is related to climate change or not. You may see that the cause of water scarcity is not only climate change but that the impacts are similar. Very often, these issues are interrelated. For this reason, the concept of PSI is well selected.

The European: That’s convincing. PSI follows a multilateral, multi-sector and multi-disciplinary approach. How is this approach achieved?

“The EU has a huge role to play regarding climate change [...]. It is very European to combine development cooperation with climate change and security and development agendas.”

Louise van Schaik

Louise v. Schaik: We always try to involve people from the public and private sector, people from scientific research, think tanks, NGOs, but also public figures from defence, diplomacy, or development perspectives. We try to make sure that there is balance and diversity in terms of gender and nationality. The biggest challenge is always to get high-level policy makers.

The European: I imagine that it can be challenging to bring together people from those different backgrounds: how do participants of your events experience this approach? Is it always fruitful or are there also tensions? Louise v. Schaik: The participants feel that these workshops are extremely valuable, because it is the opportunity for these different stakeholders to exchange best practices. But the challenge for us is to keep a balance regarding the subjects discussed, because the people we talk to are not always working daily on environmental issues, nor do they all have

Louise van Schaik Louise van Schaik is the Head of the Clingendael International Sustainability Centre and a Senior Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute in The Hague. She is also a visiting professor at the College of Europe in Bruges and coordinator of Clingendael Research on the EU in the World. Ms van Schaik has a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Leiden University(2003) and a PhD in Political Science from the KU Leuven (2010). She has published various policy reports and books and is Project Lead of the Planetary Security Initiative.

a scientific background. For example, it is important that we don’t only talk about technical solutions for water infrastructure.

The European: An important output of the 2017 Planetary Security Conference was The Hague Declaration on Planetary Security (see graphic p. 22), which has been mentioned in the Council Conclusions on Climate Diplomacy in February 2018. This non-legally binding declaration has been endorsed by 103 figures. Who are the signatories? And what actions and principles are set out in the declaration? Louise v. Schaik: We wanted a number of influential people to sign the declaration, but we also wanted it to be open to everybody. That is what we achieved: the signatories include ministers as well as people from scientific institutes or NGOs, and also individual people like passionate students. We were very pleased that the declaration was immediately discussed in the informal meeting of the UN Security Council on 15 December 2017 in New York, and that a reference has been made to it in the February 2018 Council Conclusions. It’s a non-binding document, but it puts the spotlight on regions identified by the PSI.

The European: In the Declaration you specifically focus on the – euphemistically said – challenging situations in the Lake Chad region, Mali and Iraq. What are the problems there, and have there been positive developments in those regions since the declaration? Louise v. Schaik: Yes and no. The declaration has definitely helped to put the issue higher on the agenda. In Mali especially, there is increasing attention to natural resource management, conflict and migration. In Iraq, there is more attention to the water issue. In the Lake Chad region, where the situation is explosive, a climate change risk assessment

has been undertaken and it has also come to the attention of the UN Security Council and the G7. So we can say that putting these topics in our declaration has helped to get more political attention for it.

The European: What are the next steps for the PSI? Louise v. Schaik: The aim for this year is to track the progress made on the six objectives of the Hague Declaration. What actions were undertaken to include climate change more prominently in debates on international migration; how was climate change institutionalised and entrenched in organisations’ agendas; how is the work on this subject progressing in the UN Security Council, etc.?

The European: So you will keep putting the pressure on. Louise v. Schaik: Yes! We are already preparing next year’s conference with the theme #Doable. The idea is to show that it is possible not only to think about climate security in abstract terms, but to consider how defence activities, development projects, and diplomacy can be done differently by taking this aspect into account.

The European: #Doable sounds pleasingly optimistic to me. What is the source of this optimism? Louise v. Schaik: A large part of the climate change agenda is on avoiding climate impacts. But we know that it is a tremendous challenge to get the global temperature below 2 degrees

Planetary Security Initiative The Planetary Security Initiative (PSI) was launched by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2015 and it is now operated by a consortium of leading think tanks. These renowned institutes are the Clingendael Insitute (The Hague), adelphi (Berlin), The Center for Climate and Security (Washington, D.C.), The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies and Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The objectives of the PSI are to: • enhance political involvement in climate-security; • strengthen the knowledge-policy interface by consolidating a global, cross-sectoral and inter-disciplinary community of practice; • develop and promote policies and good practice to support governments, the private sector, as well as implementing agencies to secure better peace in regions affected by climate change, and • operate as a permanent platform for international cooperation on planetary security. > Web: www.planetarysecurityinitiative.org

Celsius as outlined in the Paris Agreement targets. And even if this succeeds, there will still remain some climate impacts. We have to think about how to deal with climate impacts and how to manage our resources wisely. For example, should we think of planning a refugee camp in a region where you know that in ten years the temperature in the summer will be 50 degrees? This will only cause more problems. There are a lot of things that are “doable” if we ask the right questions.

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Planetary Security Conference 2019 #Doable The 4th Planetary Security Conference (PSC) will take place in The Hague on 19 and 20 February 2019 under the title #Doable. The aim of the yearly conference is to strengthen a community of practice around climate and security, bolster knowledge, and forge an agenda for action. The previous PSC edition was attended by over 300 representatives from governments, international organisations, think tanks, NGOs, academia and the private sector from more than 70 countries. In 2019, the conference aims to make an impact with ideas for practical and pragmatic deliverables. These will feed into the UN Climate Summit in New York in September 2019. > Web: https://bit.ly/2Jxj17y

The European: Is the PSI also working together with NGOs on the ground in these regions? Louise v. Schaik: We do not have the budget and the capacity nor the ambition to implement projects, but we try to encourage partners to work with us and to act on the ground. The PSI provides a dialogue forum and gives policy recommendations. As regards for example the recent high-level conference entitled “Climate, Peace, and Security: The Time for Action”, convened by HR/VP Federica Mogherini (22 June), we gave advice regarding the topics of the conference. One of the concepts of

The Hague Declaration on Planetary Security

With the The Hague Declaration, the Planetary Security Initiative sets out an agenda for action which builds upon and seeks to contextualise the priority themes and geographic regions of the December 2017 Planetary Security Conference. The declaration defines six areas for concrete steps:

1) Creating an institutional home for climate security

2) Coordinating migration and climate change responses 3) Promoting urban resilience

4) Supporting joint risk assessment in Lake Chad

5) Strengthening climate and conflict sensitive development in Mali

6) Supporting sustainable water strategies in Iraq

> Web: www.planetarysecurityinitiative.org/signees

Graphic: ESDU/Beate Dach

the event – “the responsibility to prepare” – was launched with our American consortium partner The Center for Climate and Security, and our German partner adelphi gave advice to the EU on how to get the best results out of the conference. Additionally, we at Clingendael organised an event with the Political and Security Committee Ambassadors that prepared for a meeting of foreign affairs ministers on what the EU can do in Iraq and Mali the evening before the event.

The European: This event you are mentioning put climate change high on the EU’s agenda. What role do you see for Europe in the future? Louise v. Schaik: The EU has a huge role to play regarding climate change, because the Union has a joined-up approach: it is very European to combine, for example, development cooperation with climate change and security and development agendas. Furthermore, the issue of migration is high on the European agenda, so if you want to have an alternative to a very strict migration policy focusing on how to stop migrants, you have to look at the root causes of migration. Climate adaption projects like planting trees and restoring land for food production in Africa can prevent people from going to big cities or Europe. This is an interesting policy alternative, or at least a useful addition to all these restrictive measures the EU is taking. And of course, let’s not forget that the EU has a lot of financial instruments. Most probably climate change will be prominently present in the next multiannual financial budget from 2020 onwards.

The European: Ms van Schaik, thank you for this interview. We wish you success for your work with the Planetary Security Initiative.

The interview was conducted by Alexa Keinert, Editor, The European – Security and Defence Union, Berlin