Climate Change-Related Discussions at the UN Security Council

Climate Change-Related Discussions at the UN Security Council

Subject – Environment

Context – India on Monday voted against a draft resolution seeking to create a formal space for climate change-related discussions at the UN Security Council.

Concept –

• India and Russia were the only countries to have opposed the draft resolution; China abstained.
  • The resolution fell through following a veto from Russia.
  • India, China and Russia had been opposing this move from the beginning, arguing that Security Council interventions on climate change will undermine the UNFCCC process, and provide disproportionate influence to a handful of developed countries on climate change decision-making.
• The draft resolution, sponsored by Ireland and Nigeria, sought to enable the Security Council to take up routine discussions on climate change from the perspective of its impact on peace and conflicts worldwide.
• As of now, the appropriate UN forum to discuss all matters on climate change is the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), whose more than 190 members meet multiple times every year, including at a two-week annual conference towards the end of the year.

UNSC Resolutions

• United Nations resolutions are formal expressions of the opinion or will of United Nations organs.
• A United Nations Security Council resolution is a United Nations resolution adopted by the fifteen members of the Security Council (UNSC).
• The UN Charter specifies (in Article 27) that a draft resolution on non-procedural matters is adopted if nine or more of the fifteen Council members vote for the resolution, and if it is not vetoed by any of the five permanent members.
• Draft resolutions on “procedural matters” can be adopted on the basis of an affirmative vote by any nine Council members.
• The term “resolution” does not appear in the text of the United Nations Charter.
• Resolutions by the Security Council are legally binding.
• If the council cannot reach consensus or a passing vote on a resolution, they may choose to produce a non-binding presidential statement instead of a Resolution. These are adopted by consensus. They are meant to apply political pressure—a warning that the Council is paying attention and further action may follow.