Climate takes back seat in Germany’s new national security council – media
Table.Media
The climate crisis has been relegated to the sidelines in chancellor Friedrich Merz’s new National Security Council, being formed by this week, according to a report by Table.Media. While the National Security Council is intended to provide comprehensive analysis of the risks to Germany's security, the global climate crisis will not be a significant area of focus, unlike in the past, when climate and security aspects were closely linked by the previous government, the outlet reported.
Climate has long been considered relevant to a wide range of areas, from the operational capability of the armed forces and access to resources to migration issues. According to current plans, however, the new council will have neither environment minister Carsten Schneider nor climate experts as permanent members. It will be able to call in other cabinet ministers or experts “as needed”, Table.Media reported.
Government sources confirmed with the outlet that climate and environmental issues will not be a central topic of discussion in the new council, and that the federal chancellery does not yet have a strategy for the geopolitical risks posed by climate change. Climate nevertheless remains a relevant issue for other parts of Germany’s security establishment. Bruno Kahl, head of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), sees climate change as "one of the five major external threats to our country".
Ottmar Edenhofer, co-director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), who has advised Germany’s governments on climate policy, told Table.Media it would be "grotesque if one of the major risks of the century were not given an appropriate place in this body".
In its first National Security Strategy, the previous coalition government listed climate change as one of the country’s most pressing challenges. It stated, for example, that exceeding the 1.5°C temperature limit of the Paris Climate Agreement would jeopardise Germany’s overall security and prosperity.
