At the Munich Security Conference, military spending and troop deployments dominated the agenda. But for many countries, the most present threat can’t be repelled by tanks.
Conversations about climate change were on the sidelines of the world’s premier security gathering last weekend, but it was top of mind for the small delegation of global south leaders present — and particularly urgent for leaders of small island nations.
“Climate change has become a threat to the existence of the Maldives,” said Abdulla Khaleel, the Maldivian minister for foreign affairs, during a high-level lunch. “It’s not the bombs, it’s not the terrorists. We are facing a different kind of terrorism.”
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About the author
Jesse Chase-Lubitz
Jesse Chase-Lubitz covers climate change and multilateral development banks for Devex. She previously worked at Nature Magazine, where she received a Pulitzer grant for an investigation into land reclamation. She has written for outlets such as Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and The Japan Times, among others. Jesse holds a master’s degree in Environmental Policy and Regulation from the London School of Economics.
