The Transnational Institute is helping host a Wars, Military and Climate Program to coincides with the International Climate Conferences ongoing in Paris, France next week. The schedule of events follows below. For more information, visit www.tni.org/en.

Themes:

Relationship between climate/ecological crises, conflicts/conflictuality, and military activities:

• Military activities, their immediate or potential impact on environment, on-going strategies and strategic projections, future weapons policies.
• Impact of security/military responses to environmental crises: the “crisis amplifier” effects on vulnerable groups, the relationship with conflicts, the winners and losers.

The working languages ​​are French and English.

The meeting will be held:

• First conference, Friday, December 4 at CICP, 21 ter rue Voltaire, 75011 Paris
• Second conference, Saturday 5, as part of the Climate Forum within the People’s Climate Summit, held in Montreuil. Sunday, 6th workshop will be organized on the common actions and perspectives).

It will also be possible to participate in other debates of the People’s Summit. https://coalitionclimat21.org/en/peoples-climate-summit

Organizers (provisional list):
Assemblée européenne des citoyens (Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly HCA-France), together with its partners of IPAM network (Initiatives for Another World), the International Peace Bureau (IPB/BPI), the Catholic Committee  CCFD  Terre Solidaire,  the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN-France), the French Association of Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (AMFPGN), the House of vigilance, the Observatoire des armements and CRDPC, the Group for Research and Information on Peace and Security (GRIP Brussels),  and the Transnational Institute (TNI Amsterdam), Statewatch, Friends of the Earth, ATTAC, Focus on the Global South, Scientists for Global Responsibility …

Friday, December 4, CICP, 21 ter rue Voltaire 75011 Paris

Military activities, environmental impact:

• 2.00-3.00 pm:  Introduction, Military activities, strategy, climate.

The carbon footprint and pollution impact of arms and military policies. Why are greenhouse gas emissions resulting from military activities not included in the climate negotiations? A strategic transition needed for “sustainable security”.

Bernard Dreano (Assemblée européenne des citoyens/IPAM), Ben Cramer, (journalist, researcher), Alain Joxe  (CIRPES), Patrice Bouveret (Observatoire des armements, CRDPC)

• 3.00-5.00pm: The ENMOD Convention and the questions about geoengineering

Is the ENMOD UN Convention (Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques), a “sleeping beauty”? Addressing global imbalances and the risks of geoengineering. Extension and updating of the ENMOD Convention. Why has this convention not been signed by France? (Among other states)

Luc Mampaey (GRIP), Alain Lipietz (former Member of the European Parliament), Pat Mooney and/or Silvia Ribeiro (ETCgroup)

• 5.00-5.30 pm: Pause
• 5.30 -7.30 pm: Nuclear threat and Climate

What is the impact of a brutal cooling related to the intentional or accidental use of nuclear weapons on climate, agriculture and health. Nuclear energy a false solution to reduce CO2 emissions.
Abraham Béhar (president of French Association of Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War,  Michel  Fernex (Sortir du Nucléaire – Switzerland), Alan Robock (skype) IPCC expert (USA)

Saturday, December 5, Climate Forum, Montreuil

The environmental dimension of conflicts:

Recurrent droughts, water stress, sea level rise, extreme weather events will increase with climate change, but their impacts will depend on political and economic decisions made by powerful actors.  What will be their effects in regions of tension, dislocation and war? How do we prevent conflict and defend human rights?

• 10.00-12.00 am: (in cooperation with CCFD): Wars and climate crises, Case study: Middle East

In a region ravaged by war, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, civil war in Syria, Iraq, Yemen regional and global geopolitical tensions, what is the impact of environmental issues, water, repeated droughts, etc. With particular attention to the situation in Palestine, Syria and Iraq and across the Euphrates and Tigris basin.

Farouk Mardam Bey (Historian), Samira Mobaied (Syrian Ecologist), Jacques Fontaine (Association France Palestine solidarité), Ercan  Ercan Ayboga (Ecological movement of Mesopotamia, Save Tigris campaign), Ismaeel Dawood (Iraqi Civil Society Support Initiative).

Climate Threat, Human Security:

• 2.00-4.00 pm: Colonising the future – the Military-Industrial complex and Climate change

Military strategists consider “climate threats” and generally ecological crises, as central issues of security. What are their proposals and projections? Is it a new opportunity for military-industrial lobbies? Are there alternatives?

Ben Cramer, Stuart Parkinson (Scientists for Global Responsibility), Ben Hayes (Statewatch/TNI), April Humble, Asad Rehman or rep of Friends of the Earth

• 4.00-4.30 m: Pause
• 4.30-6.30: Challenging securitisation of our Climate-changed World

Current and future threats to our food, water, energy are all being framed today in terms of security. What is the impact of securitising everything? How do we resist and how can we forge true human security?

Leila Aichi (Member of the French Senate, Secretary of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Armed Forces Senatorial Commission), Oscar Reyes (IPS), Mary Ann Manahan (Focus on the Global South), Nick Buxton and Susan George (TNI), Nnimmo Bassey (HOMEF)

Sunday, 6th, Climate forum Montreuil

• 10.00-12.00 am: Self organized workshop: Resistance and Alternative, struggles for Peace and Environment, common plans for action (Tom Henfrey, Hilary Wainwright)