On 23 February the United Nations (UN) Security Council will hold an open session on the topic of climate change and security. The security implications of climate change are highly diverse, crossing and linking different sectors of society. They have a particular relevance for the peace operations conducted by the UN (see box 1 and figure 1 below). As of December 2020:
10 out of 21 ongoing UN peace operations were located in countries ranked as most exposed to climate change (see box 1).
6 of the 10 biggest UN peace operations (by total international personnel) were in countries ranked most exposed to climate change.
Of a total of 92 159 personnel deployed to UN peace operations, 80 per cent (74 396 personnel) were deployed in such countries.
Recent research in highly exposed countries shows that climate change’s impacts on host communities can have serious implications for both UN peacekeeping operations and special political missions.