How to handle climate security and trade in times of multiple crises

The Think2030 Dialogue Sweden is one of several activities within the Think2030 platform, created by the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) in 2018 to provide science-policy solutions for a more sustainable Europe.

As part of the Think2030 dialogue, Mistra and International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) organized the session “Climate security and trade in times of multiple crises” and this session brief summarizes the key take-aways from this session.

The geopolitical situation and power relations in the global arena are changing, and tensions are growing as access to food, natural resources and energy are coming to a head. Multilateral collaboration on climate and trade is affected, and frustration is clear regarding responsibility and fairness in managing climate adaptation and climate transition, at a time when greenhouse gas emissions need to decrease drastically.

The keynote speaker Henrik Carlsson, Senior Research Fellow at SEI and Co-Director of the Mistra Geopolitics research programme framed the Think2030 session discussion over trade and climate security by citing three important drivers for change: global environmental change, geopolitical tensions and shifts, and emerging technologies. This framing shows interconnected risks as well as opportunities.

The discussions resulted in the following recommendations:

Key Messages 

• Sustainability science needs to become more geopolitically relevant. Stability and security are preconditions for sustainability. Geopolitical tensions and related political shifts in the climate context are complex and need to be understood for effective collective climate action.
• The multilateral trade system, as we know it, is being deconstructed. Concepts and rules therefore need to be re-evaluated to design a fair and effective trade system that does not leave some parts of the world behind while it advances sustainable development.
• The EU should make sure that agreements for critical raw materials necessary for the green transition do not become tools for colonization.  
• A huge part of the world’s population still faces poverty, hunger and disease and at the same time will be hit hardest by climate change. Global development and prosperity are the biggest challenges when we address climate and trade issues and regulations. 
• The current geopolitical landscape and climate change together challenge the transition to a sustainable food system. Strategies and regulation in climate and trade issues need to be developed to ensure that we can reach a “net-zero” food system, maintain food safety and build “food preparedness”, simultaneously.