Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
implementation mechanisms. The European Security Strategy, with versions ela-
borated in 2003 and 2008, advanced on several key concepts, including human
security, the role of civil society, gender issues and climate change as a cause of
con
s well-known problems of inter-issue and inter-institutional
coherence have not dramatically improved. This lack of coordination exists espe-
cially in relation to the poor linkages in practice between climate change, energy,
trade and security decision-making.
5
The IfS expanded from 139 million in 2007 to 282 million in 2011. Most of its
funding has gone to short-term crisis response only 5 per cent to longer-term crisis
preparedness. Much of its work is seen as related to climate factors: projects in the
Horn of Africa to respond to tensions caused by drought and food price increases,
by aiming to keep agricultural markets open and functioning; and in Bangladesh,
building institutions to respond better to
ict. But the EU
'
ooding. Climate con
ict was not listed
as one of the IfS
'
s main priorities, but a new programme on
'
Natural resources,
post-con
ict and post-disaster needs assessments
'
was a second-order issue of
'
crisis
preparedness
'
.
6
In 2011 a modest
€
1.5 million of its total spend was allocated for
.
7
The IfS has funded some generic capacity-building related to disaster preparedness
and supported United Nations (UN) e
'
natural resources and con
ict
'
orts in this area too. However, it operates
mainly in responsive mode. Plans are afoot to beef up its peace-building partnership
as the main proactive instrument to tackle long-term issues driving climate con
ict;
this now includes support for civil society groups working on climate security to raise
awareness among political elites. The Commission
ce, ECHO,
has similarly been criticised for spending less than 10 per cent of its budget on
preventative measures that would ensure better preparedness for climate-related
disaster.
8
O
'
s humanitarian o
cials insist that the post-2014 IfS is set to place more stress on climate-
driven con
150 million Agadir Sahel pro-
grammes to strengthen resilience on climate change, directly linked to security
interventions in Mali.
The EU has sought to enhance its early warning systems. It now has a whole
plethora of institutions charged with ensuring timely preventive responses to crises.
This is an area of strong development, although the risk exists of a rather inchoate
system emerging. The European Commission Crisis Room, Regional Crisis
Response Planning O
ict. In 2013 the EU advanced with its
€
cers, the Situation Centre, a European Rapid Alert System,
the External Action Service (EAS) con
ict unit and the EU Military Sta
all have a
role. Confusion reigns over the precise division of tasks, and o
cials admit that
early warning responsibilities speci
cally linked to climate change are still not clear
or easily operational. And signi
cantly, no climate change-related factors are
incorporated into the way that potential crises are monitored. The EU
s Watch List
is a motley collection of unstable or potentially unstable states that are of particular
'
