United Nations Security Council draft resolution S/2021/990
Date: 2021-12-13 (meeting 8926)
Agenda: Maintenance of international peace and security
Vetoed by: RUSSIA/USSR

United Nations
Security Council
Distr.: General
13 December 2021
Original: English
S/2021/990

Afghanistan, Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia,
Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde,
Canada, Chad, Comoros, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia,
Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Fiji, Finland,
Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala,
Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland,
Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho,
Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Maldives, Mali, Malta,
Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Federated States
of Micronesia, Monaco, Montenegro, Namibia, Nauru, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Palau,
Panama, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of
Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Senegal,
Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon
Islands, Spain, the Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Timor-Leste,
Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine,
United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania, United States of
America, Uruguay and Vanuatu: draft resolution

The Security Council,
Recalling its Presidential Statement 2011/15 of 20 July 2011,

Reiterating its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace
and security and the importance of a comprehensive approach to peacebuilding and
sustaining peace, particularly through the prevention of conflict and addressing its
root causes at all stages of conflict,

Recalling the General Assembly resolution 63/281 which expresses deep
concerns that the adverse impacts of climate change, including sea level rise, could
have possible security implications, and noting the Secretary General's report of
11 September 2009, which highlights climate change and its possible security
implications and acknowledges that climate change is often viewed as exacerbating
existing threats,
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Recalling that the Security Council has repeatedly stressed the need for the UN,
regional organisations and member states to take into consideration, as appropriate,
the security implications of the adverse effects of climate change for their activities,
programmes and strategies in affected countries, inter alia referring to the Lake Chad
Basin, Somalia, Darfur, South Sudan, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, and
Western and Central Africa, Cyprus and Iraq,
Recalling the Sustaining Peace resolutions, and emphasising the need for a
comprehensive, whole of UN approach to address climate change and its effects
which includes all relevant United Nations organs and entities in line with their
respective mandates, and in this regard recognising the responsibility for sustainable
development issues conferred upon the General Assembly and the Economic and
Social Council, and the importance of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, and acknowledging that the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement adopted under the
Convention, are the primary international, intergovernmental forums for negotiating
the global response to climate change,
Acknowledging the centrality of adaptation and resilience in national and global
responses to climate change and the conflict-preventive contributions of early
mitigation action,
Noting that an increasing number of Member States are recognising the adverse
effects of climate change on their security in their national contexts, and stressing the
primary responsibility of States to develop and implement measures to manage and
address climate-related security risks, and, in this regard, emphasises the need for
stronger and sustained international cooperation and capacity-building,
Recalling the obligations of all parties to armed conflict to comply with their
obligations under international humanitarian law including those related to the natural
environment, and for all States to comply with their respective obligations under
international human rights law, and international refugee law, as applicable,
Recognising that there is a strong nexus between peace and security,
humanitarian assistance and sustainable development and that the adverse effects of
climate change could impede or reverse the peacebuilding and development gains of
the countries most affected by climate change, especially in nations characterised by
a high level of fragility, and act as a risk multiplier in these contexts,
Acknowledging that the adverse effects of climate change, including, inter alia,
erratic precipitation, increasingly frequent and extreme weather phenomena, more
frequent and severe tropical cyclones, floods and drought, diminishing fresh water
resources, desertification, land degradation and sea-level rise can lead to water
scarcity, food insecurity, large scale displacement, particularly affecting women,
children, ethnic minorities and the most vulnerable, potentially leading to social
tension and exacerbating, prolonging or contributing to the risk of future conflicts
and instability and posing a key risk to global peace, security, and stability,
Recognising that the adverse effects of climate change can exacerbate the
vulnerability of populations, especially those in situations of armed conflict, violence
or fragility, whose capacity to cope with climate shocks and changes is limited, and
calling attention to the humanitarian consequences of climate related security risks
for these populations,
Expressing concern about the particular impact of climate-related security risks
on women, children and the most vulnerable,
Calling attention to the importance of conflict prevention, early awareness and
consideration of situations which may deteriorate into armed conflicts and
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S/2021/990
emphasising that the United Nations, including the Security Council, should heed
early warning indications of potential conflict and ensure prompt and effective action
to prevent, contain or end conflicts, in accordance with the Charter of the United
Nations,
Emphasising that Small Island Developing States are particularly vulnerable to
the adverse effects of climate change, and expresses deep concern that the impacts,
including the loss of territory caused by the rise of the sea level, may have
implications for international peace and security, in addition to humanitarian,
economic, social, cultural and ecological consequences,
Welcoming the efforts by regional organisations such as the African Union, the
European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Pacific Islands
Forum to develop regional responses to climate-related security threats, and stressing
that the United Nations' cooperation with regional and sub-regional organisations is
critical to addressing climate-related security risks and to the prevention of the
outbreak, escalation, continuation and recurrence of conflict,
Recalling that the Security Council has emphasised the importance of taking
into account the environmental impacts of peacekeeping operations, welcoming the
Secretary General's priorities through his initiatives "Action for Peacekeeping" and
"Action for Peacekeeping +", and recognising in this regard the significant progress
made in improving environmental risk management,
Recognising the need for United Nations peacebuilding efforts to have adequate,
predictable and sustained financing in order to effectively assist countries to sustain
peace and prevent the outbreak, escalation, continuation and recurrence of conflict,
Recognising the need to also involve different stakeholders, including civil
society and human rights defenders, and stressing especially the important role of
women as part of the decision-making processes and their full, equal and meaningful
participation and leadership in the design and implementation of programs related to
climate and security,
Recognising the potential benefits of scientifically sound and evidence-based
assessments of the interaction between climate change and factors impacting security
deriving from relevant United Nations bodies and frameworks for awareness-raising,
informed policy formulation and decision-making in the context of international
peace and security and promoting peacebuilding,
Emphasising the need for the whole UN system to be better informed on climate-
related security risks, drawing from available data, information and knowledge from
various United Nations agencies, conventions and other international organisations
and bodies as well as academia and local organisations, to fully integrate short and
long-term climate and environmental risk factors in the comprehensive assessment
and management of threats to peace and security, at country, regional and
international levels,
Inviting, in this regard, all relevant actors, to work towards accessible and
interoperable international data on climate-related security risks and to develop
digital infrastructure and skills required to process and interpret data in support of
preventing conflicts,
1. Expresses its intention to take into consideration comprehensive conflict
analysis and conflict management strategies incorporating information on the security
implications of climate change, to enable the Council to pay due regard to any root
causes of conflict or risk multipliers which may represent a challenge to the
implementation of Council mandates or endanger the process of consolidation of
sustaining peace;
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2. Requests the Secretary-General to integrate climate-related security risk
as a central component into comprehensive conflict-prevention strategies of the
United Nations to contribute to the reduction of the risk of conflict relapse due to
adverse effects of climate change;

3. Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report on the security
implications for relevant country or region-specific contexts on the Council's agenda
of the adverse effects of climate change, as well as recommendations on how climate
related security risks can be addressed, within twenty-four months of the date of this
resolution;

4. Also invites the Secretary-General to integrate, when relevant, the security
implications of the effects of climate change into conflict prevention strategies,
conflict analysis, integrated missions' assessment and planning, peacebuilding
support, conflict relapse risk reduction efforts, disaster risk reduction efforts and
humanitarian response; requests the inclusion in relevant mission and thematic
reporting to the Security Council of gender- and age-sensitive information relating to
the security implications of climate change and recommendations to address it;
requests further that the Secretary-General takes steps to improve the collection of
data, monitoring and analysis of the effects of climate change in the context of armed
conflict and humanitarian emergencies;

5. Encourages collaboration between Member States and the scientific
community and the development of online-platforms for supporting real-time access
to climate related data and information products to support comprehensive risk
analyses;

6. Recognises that mediation is important for the peaceful settlement of
disputes, especially in climate-related conflict situations and including wherever
possible preventively, and before disputes evolve into violence, appreciates the
efforts of the Secretary General to continue to strengthen United Nations mediation
support capacity, in accordance with agreed mandates and encourages the Secretary-
General to provide United Nations mediation support capacity to assist in the
rebuilding of social cohesion and peacebuilding with due regard to climate related
security risks;

7. Encourages relevant special political missions, peacekeeping operations
and United Nations country teams, to incorporate, within their existing mandates, the
security implications of climate change in their assessment, analysis and activities to
prevent relapse into conflict;

8. Requests the Secretary-General to verify that relevant personnel involved
in United Nations peacekeeping activities have appropriate training within existing
resources on climate related security risks, and urges States and international and
regional organisations to ensure that appropriate training is provided in their
programmes for personnel involved in relevant activities;

9. Recognises the importance for international scientific research and data
institutions taking into account local expertise in their field work, products and
outcomes, in contributing to the identification of solutions for country or region -
specific climate related security risks;

10. Recognises the importance of coordinating with host countries to ensure
that the risk assessments and risk management strategies being proposed are
collaborative efforts that respond to their needs and objectives;

11. Welcomes the deployment of dedicated capacity on climate security in the
United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) and encourages the

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deployment of similar capacity, as appropriate, in relevant UN peacekeeping
operations and special political missions;
12. Recognises the importance of civil society, including community-based
civil society, youth, women, peacebuilders, and where relevant the private sector,
academia, think tanks, media, and cultural, educational, and religious leaders in peace
building efforts and sustaining peace, including by increasing awareness about
climate-related security impacts and how to more effectively address them;
13. Requests relevant special political missions, Peacekeeping Operations and
United Nations country teams to consider the environmental impacts of its operations
conducting mission management and, in this context, to manage them as appropriate
and in accordance with applicable United Nations rules and regulations, mindful of
the Secretary-General's United Nations Secretariat Climate Action Plan goals;
14. Recognises the need to address challenges linked to the provision of
specific information and recommendations on climate change induced security risks
on countries and regions on the Council's agenda, to inform and help strengthen the
Council's decisions, and therefore welcomes the convening of the Informal Expert
Group of members of the Security Council on Climate and Security to facilitate a
more systematic and comprehensive approach to Climate, Peace and Security within
the Security Council's work;
15. Encourages member states, regional organisations and the United Nations,
including their field-based missions, to take into consideration, as appropriate, the
security implications of the adverse effects of climate change in their activities,
programs and strategies in affected countries, including by developing comprehensive
risk management strategies relating to these factors;
16. Encourages also the Peacebuilding Commission to consider and bring
attention to, where appropriate, in its country-specific, regional and thematic
discussions implications of the adverse effects of climate change for peacebuilding
and sustaining peace, to give priority consideration to the issues of national capacities
and resilience building to address effects of climate change and sustaining peace
issues, and convene across and beyond the UN system to facilitate a coherent and
comprehensive cross-pillar response, and to engage with local communities and civil
society, in particular women and young people, in their efforts to address climate
change, sustainable development, and peacebuilding and sustaining peace;
17. Decides to remain actively seized of this matter.
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Voting result: 12 yes, 2 no, 1 abstentions
Votes by member:
country: Estonia
vote: Y
country: France
vote: Y
country: Ireland
vote: Y
country: Kenya
vote: Y
country: Mexico
vote: Y
country: Niger
vote: Y
country: Norway
vote: Y
country: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
vote: Y
country: Tunisia
vote: Y
country: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
vote: Y
country: United States of America
vote: Y
country: Viet Nam
vote: Y
country: India
vote: N
country: Russian Federation
vote: N
country: China
vote: A