Environment, Security and Development
Since the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm ensuring that development is sustainable has become a matter of international concern. The 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro further raised the profile of environment and sustainable development, and led to three Multilateral Environment Agreements (MEAs): the Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Convention to Combat Desertification. Although in the second half of the 1990s the development agenda refocused to a certain extent on poverty reduction issues, environmental sustainability was chosen as one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg sought to address both poverty and environment issues.
Environment is one of the three pillars of sustainable development and is particularly important for the poor, who are more vulnerable to natural resource degradation, pollution and ecological disasters. Environment is thus crucial for the overall objectives of cooperation: sustainable development and poverty reduction.
The eradication of poverty in the context of sustainable development is the fundamental objective of EU development policy, as stipulated in European Consensus on Development. Because the environment plays a key role in the livelihoods of the poorest communities, it should be managed in such a way that it contributes to this overall objective of poverty alleviation.
Mainstreaming environment in development cooperation activities may also contribute to stability and peace. There is a clear link between environment and security, and more precisely between the management of scarce or abundant natural resources and conflict.
Migration is a natural consequence of environmental stress: people are forced to leave their homelands because of the degradation or lack of environmental resources needed for their survival.
Environmental cooperation can be an extraordinary element of stability and peace and even of reconciliation. It is therefore essential to promote sustainable development and sustainable shared management of natural resources with the objective to protect the environment and at the same time to contribute to poverty reduction and stability.
In November 2009, in view of the international conference on climate change in Copenhagen, the Council held an orientation debate and adopted conclusions that underline the importance of a medium- to long-term perspective in addressing climate change and development. Strengthening coherence between the two is essential to successfully achieve internationally agreed climate and development objectives, while ensuring that the fight against poverty and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals are not jeopardized. The conclusions invite the Commission and member states to engage in more dialogue with partner countries and to support the integration of climate change concerns into their development strategies and budget processes.
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