Last week the Stockholm Hub on Environment, Climate and Security, a cross-institutional research collaboration supported by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA), held its third high-level meeting since its relaunch in May 2022. The meeting took place at the Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC) on 26 January.
The high-level meeting focused on the current food crisis and the systemic weakness of the global food systems. Line Gordon, SRC Director, opened the meeting with welcome remarks, followed by a knowledge briefing from researchers at SRC and SIPRI. Dr Caroline Delgado, Director of SIPRI’s Food, Peace and Security Programme, discussed the links between conflict and food security. Dr Delgado explained how food insecurity can create social unrest and grievances that spark conflict, which in turn further aggravates food insecurity.
The directors from the four organizations offered their remarks on the issue. Dan Smith, SIPRI Director, stressed that we need both short- and long-term solutions—‘We are not going to solve the food crisis at the sharp end unless we manage to achieve peace and keep it’. Thereafter, Helen Eduards, Director General for International Development Cooperation at the Swedish MFA, commenced an open discussion with representatives and officials from Swedish ministries and agencies and the Swedish Parliament.
About the Stockholm Hub on Environment, Climate and Security
The Stockholm Hub on Environment, Climate and Security combines the strengths of four leading Stockholm-based research institutes—SIPRI, the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and the Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC). The Hub contributes knowledge of how social and environmental processes interact with human insecurity, tensions and conflicts. It provides evidence-based insights into how transformative solutions can build security and prosperity and strengthen societies’ resilience in the face of a changing climate and environmental degradation.