India objects at climate change debate at UNSC

 
The UN Security Council on July 21 failed to agree that climate change is a threat to international peace and security, even as India objected to the issue being discussed in this forum.

The United States described this failure as "pathetic".

But India, China and Russia objected to the matter being discussed in the Security Council.

"This is more than disappointing," Susan Rice told the Security Council in a climate change debate organized by Germany, which has the presidency of the Council for this month.

"It's pathetic," she said.

"It's shortsighted, and frankly it's a dereliction of duty."

The Small Island States face the risk of seeing their countries sinking due to rising sea levels.

India, however, said that the solution to climate change problem did not lie in the Security Council.

"The existential threat to Island States or food insecurity on account of climate change cannot be resolved or remedied by the Council," Hardeep Singh Puri, India's envoy to the UN told the Council.

"Clearly these issues need a broader approach anchored in development, adaptive capacity, risk assessment and institution build-up," he added.

In an op-ed piece in The Huffington Post, Peter Wettig, Germany's ambassador to the UN argued the opposite.

"Politicians, diplomats and security experts across the board -- not only in the Western world -- share the assessment that climate change might have a serious impact on international peace and security," he writes.

"The one international body that has the legitimacy and responsibility to maintain international peace and security is the United Nations Security Council," he added.

"It must therefore be at the heart of any multilateral approach to tackle global threats to peace and security."

While noting that climate change was a security issue, India underlined that poverty food security and under development also "undermined international well being."

Puri said that "sweeping generalizations" about climate change should not be made.

"While climate modelling has made considerable advances in forecasting the future behavior of natural systems, the science of climate change and its physical impact still confronts a number of uncertainties," the envoy said.

"Sea level rise on the other hand is happening," he added, noting that this problem also impacted the people living in island chains in India.

Britain, which supports climate change being discussed in the Council, organized the first such debate in 2007.