MSC @ COP26

At COP26, the MSC aimed to provide relevant stakeholders with a platform to discuss the steps ahead at the nexus of climate and foreign and security policy. The different event formats included a high-level dinner, a roundtable discussion and a policy pitch session as well as a lunch, bringing together representatives of politics, business, media and civil society, allowing for a diversity of debates on- and off-the-record as well as on- and offline. The events took place at different locations in Glasgow, including the Scottish Event Campus and The New York Times Climate Hub, in person and in hybrid format, and were hosted in cooperation with selected partners of the MSC.

Forming part of the MSC event series “The Road to Munich”, the MSC’s activities at COP26 thus set the tone for debates on climate security at the next in-person conference in February 2022.

Climate change and its global implications present one of the most urgent challenges for the multilateral system. As nation-state thinking and great power competition accelerate, collective efforts to mitigate climate change, to adapt to its impacts, and to finance large-scale climate action, are stalling. COP26 provides a crucial opportunity for the international community to move from pledges to progress with the implementation of bold climate policies.

In line with the theme “From Pledges to Progress: Joining Forces for Climate Security”, the MSC highlighted how inextricably linked climate change and security are, by showing that on the one hand, climate change represents one of the greatest security threats, jeopardizing peace, and stability, and on the other hand, political instability and conflict often lead to governance structures that are unable to take the necessary steps to tackle the impacts of climate change. By bringing different sectors together, the MSC seeked to put climate security high on the agenda at COP26 and to drive forward action on the race to net zero for both incremental and systemic change at the local, national, and multilateral level.

Climate, Peace and Stability: Weathering Risk Through COP and Beyond

Roundtable Discussion (in cooperation with the German Federal Foreign Office and adelphi, with Luxembourg, Nauru, and the United Arab Emirates)

03.30 p.m. – 05.00 p.m. (GMT)

German Pavilion, Online / Scottish Event Campus, Glasgow

Watch a recording of the event of read our summary.

Climate Security Reflection Dinner

(co-hosted with the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom and supported by EY)

Two Steps or Not Two Steps: The Power of (Incremental) Change on Race to Net Zero

Policy Pitch Session @ The New York Times Climate Hub (in cooperation with Siemens Energy and The New York Times)

11.00 a.m. – 11.45 a.m. (GMT)

The New York Times Climate Hub, Glasgow

Watch a recording of the session of read our summary.

The Race to Net Zero Lunch

(co-hosted with EY)

The respective event formats have been hosted in cooperation with partners of the MSC, including adelphi, EY, the German Federal Foreign Office, Siemens Energy, and The New York Times.

The events at COP26 form part of the MSC’s Sustainability Program, with which the MSC aims to advance the debate around the intersections of governance, environment, security, and prosperity. By using the momentum to scale up cooperation and by highlighting climate as a crucial issue on the multilateral agenda, MSC activities at COP26 constituted an important element on the “Road to Munich”. This is a series of MSC events leading up to the next in-person conference in Munich in February 2022, which explores key issue areas for multilateral cooperation across the Atlantic and beyond.