Citing Links between Conflict, Climate Change, Secretary-General Says World Peace Depends on ‘Peace with Planet’, in Message to Austrian Forum

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message to the Austrian Forum for Peace, held in Stadtschlaining, from 1 to 4 July:

I send my warmest wishes to all those taking part in the Austrian Forum for Peace.

Your Forum arrives at a moment of complex conflicts, mounting tensions and rising insecurity around the globe.  Challenges are growing more interconnected, while the world becomes more fractured and frayed.

This year’s theme reminds us of the close links between conflicts and climate chaos.  As the Austrian Centre for Peace and others have shown, the damaging effects of climate change are a major driver and multiplier of suffering, displacement and competition for scarce resources.  And because the impacts transcend borders and battle lines, they also offer potential to find common‑ground solutions.

Those solutions are needed more than ever.  We recently received confirmation that the last twelve months have been the hottest on record — a sign that we are hurtling in the wrong direction.  Combined with a woeful lack of support and financing to help developing countries adapt, these challenges represent a surefire recipe for more suffering, more drought and more disaster.

Peace in our world depends on peace with our planet and its natural gifts.  And it requires global leaders to overcome geo-political divisions for the common good to build a climate of peace in all its dimensions.

This September’s Summit of the Future will be a moment for the world to help forge solutions to shape a more peaceful tomorrow for people and planet alike.  The United Nations stands with the Austrian Forum for Peace in this essential effort.  I wish you a successful and productive Forum.