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Security Council members call for climate-resilient infrastructure, finance and planning to reduce instability in Libya
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Summary
Ahead of a Security Council briefing, a group of council members led by Guyana urged Libyan authorities and partners to address climate-driven risks to stability, citing the 2023 Derna floods and chronic water stress, and called for dam modernization, unified budgeting and expanded access to international climate finance.
Ahead of a United Nations Security Council briefing, the Representative of Guyana, speaking for a group of Security Council members including France, Greece, Denmark, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and the United Kingdom, urged Libyan authorities and development partners to address climate-related drivers of instability in Libya.
The Representative of Guyana said the country faces multiple climate hazards — rising temperatures, declining rainfall, rising sea levels and frequent sand and dust storms — and noted that "less than 2% of its land receives sufficient rainfall to support agriculture." The statement cited the 2023 floods in Derna, caused by Storm Daniel, as an example of how climate impacts have been compounded by "the lack of governance, inadequate infrastructure, and limited preparedness."
The statement set out specific steps the group urged Libyan authorities and partners to take. Those recommendations included working toward a unified national budget and investing in modernization of dams and other relevant infrastructure; improving capacity-building initiatives for Libyan institutions; developing an inclusive, conflict-sensitive and peace-positive national adaptation plan and disaster risk reduction guidelines; and enhancing Libya's ability to access international climate finance. "The modernization of Libya's dams is therefore critical," the Representative of Guyana said.
The speakers also called for strengthening "climate-resilient livelihood diversification, especially in area[s] of food production," and asked stakeholders to provide "greater support to UNSMIL's climate, peace and security agenda." The Representative of Guyana said an "appointment of a climate peace and security adviser through voluntary means would be instrumental" and urged support for missions working on climate, peace and security within their existing mandates.
The group framed these steps as measures to reduce the ways climate change "interacts with fragility, instability, and conflict in Libya," amplifying humanitarian and governance challenges. The statement closed with the Representative of Guyana saying the members "look forward to continuing our cooperation with UNSMIL and all stakeholders to address the current and emerging impacts of climate change on peace and security in Libya and the wider region."
