OSCE Climate Security Dialogue

Since 2007, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has been focusing on the security implications of climate change, working with partners to conduct research and implement activities on the ground to address the potential security risks stemming from climate change, as well as providing a platform for political dialogue on climate-related security risks. These activities have ranged from participatory assessments to the development and implementation of transboundary adaptation strategies in the OSCE region.

Building on this work, in 2020, the OSCE, in collaboration with adelphi, started the project “Strengthening responses to security risks from climate change in South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia”. The project aims to reduce climate change-related security risks in the four project regions by raising awareness, developing capacities, and sharing knowledge within and among the project regions. By so doing, it contributes to the implementation of the various provisions of the OSCE Ministerial Council Decision No.3/21 on “Strengthening co-operation to address the challenges caused by climate change” that was adopted on 3 December 2021 in Stockholm.

adelphi has been a key partner of the OSCE for the implementation of the project since the beginning. In the first phase of work, from 2020 to 2024, adelphi has supported the implementation of participatory formats to assess climate and security risks in the project’s regions, mapping climate-security hotspots, and supporting the organisation and implementation of dialogue events aimed at bringing together stakeholders within and across the regions to discuss strategies to jointly address climate-related security risks. 

In the second phase of the project, starting in November 2024, the OSCE and adelphi will continue working together with regional, national and local level stakeholders towards the implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and capacity development to address climate-related security risks in the project’s regions. More specifically, activities under this phase will include: 

• Supporting the implementation of  concrete activities aimed at strengthening cooperation between park authorities and enforcement bodies for the prevention of illegal logging and related climate and security risks in Shar/Šara Mountains and Korab Massif Area

• Implementing pilot projects aimed at the design and implementation of co-operation measures to address climate-related security risks in transboundary hotspots in South-Eastern Europe; Northern Armenia and Southern Georgia; North-West Azerbaijan and Eastern Georgia,; and Central Asia

• Conducting stakeholder consultations in Eastern Europe to identify shared climate-related security challenges and entry-points for project activities to address them.

• Developing and conducting stakeholder-specific trainings and workshops for field practitioners, media, civil society and youth aimed at raising their awareness and developing their capacities to tackle climate-related security risks

• Developing and conducting cross-regional learning events around climate-related security challenges to enhance exchange and dialogue between stakeholders towards jointly identifying opportunities for cooperation

• Conducting monitoring and evaluation activities, including data collection and analysis, to understand the impact of the project and the activities conducted within it in the targeted regions, as well as providing best practices and evidence to inform other international and regional processes and debates on climate and security. 

• Supporting visibility and outreach activities for the project to raise its profile and contribute to the sharing of best practices and lessons learned around addressing climate-related security risks internationally.