This week SIPRI held a launch of its Environment of Peace report in Latin America. The report provides the most comprehensive account to date of how different aspects of the environmental crisis are interacting with today’s darkening security horizon to create a new era of risk.
On Monday 30 January, SIPRI presented the report at an event organized in collaboration with the Embassy of Sweden in Bogotá, Colombia. Helena Storm, Swedish Ambassador to Colombia, provided introductory remarks followed by remarks from Danilo Rueda, Colombia’s High Commissioner for Peace, and Dan Smith, SIPRI Director. The event brought together 90 representatives from the government, the United Nations, Swedish and local non-governmental organizations, and the academic and diplomatic communities.
On Tuesday 31 January, Smith and Dr Caroline Delgado, Director of the Food, Peace and Security Programme at SIPRI, attended a lunch at the Swiss Residence to discuss the findings and recommendations of the Environment of Peace report, and their relevance for Colombia.
During the visit SIPRI experts participated in several discussions about how to enable a just and peaceful green transition in Latin America, hosted by, among others, the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, ForumCiv, the International Crisis Group and the Latin American office of the Stockholm Environment Institute. Several bilateral meetings were also held with government representatives and UN organizations in Bogotá.
Tomorrow Smith will speak at an event entitled ‘Environmental Degradation, Climate Change and Insecurity’ co-organized by SIPRI, the Igarapé Institute and the Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.