New world order?; the climate crisis threatens to undermine peace and polarize the world

The climate crisis threatens to “polarize the world” and undermine peace and security, said the former minister and representative of Canada before the EUStéphane Dion, in an interview with Efe after visiting Spainto strengthen ties in the new green economic path that will “redefine” the global geostrategic order.

The abandonment of the traditional fossil fuels that supply the world’s populations for heating, transport and all kinds of activities, threatens to “de-stabilize” to rich oil-exporting countries, some of them even militarized, for the “many interests at stake”said.

It is also foreseeable that rivalries will increase due to the dependence of countries on natural resources such as lithium or cobalt, beyond water, which are “critics” for the green and digital energy transition, added the Canadian Prime Minister’s special envoy to the European Union and Europe.

The visit to Spain of the Canadian leader, previously Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Environment, among other public officials, takes place on the eve of the Spanish presidency of the EU and in the midst of a wave of forest fires “catastrophic” in Canada.

“First of all, I want to thank the Government of Spain and the Spanish people for supporting our country” for sending resources “to help us put out the flames”a “terrible” problem aggravated by the climate crisis that is now shaking Canada, but that can affect any country, he assured.

As part of his work agenda in Madrid, Dion has met with authorities, diplomats, and heads of companies and civil society organizations to exchange positions on how to address the climate crisis and the challenges that will redefine the global geopolitical order.

He explained that Canada’s political priority in the face of climate change is indisputable, as confirmed by the fact that the Canadian city of Montreal is going to host a NATO center of excellence on climate change and security.

Dion urged cooperation and reached out to Spain and the rest of the world to continue working on the new climate and security challenges, because “You can always do more.”

“We will have more storms, more floods, more droughts, the sea level will rise due to the melting of the poles and people will have to flee their territories to more sustainable ones; that will affect world stability”added the expert during a small event with experts at the Canadian embassy following his visit to Madrid.

Energies such as solar or wind power and hydrogen as an energy vector require an immense volume of materials “critics”, so the dependence on cobalt, graphite or lithium “it will be bigger”, warned.

Currently, Chinese “It largely controls the extraction and transformation of these key materials for the energy transition” and although the Asian giant is a growing superpower, democratic states “they are very suspicious” of your government “authoritarian”, Dion pointed out.

“NATO members and other allies, such as Japan and Korea, already feel too dependent on Chinese industries and don’t want to increase that dependence.”

Also Europe “seeks to get rid of its excessive dependence on Russian hydrocarbons and critical Chinese materials”which poses a risk “enormous” for the European continent in terms of its industrial base, climate objectives and socio-political stability.

Dion did not rule out that, on the path of decarbonization, oil-rich countries, some militarized, could see themselves “destabilized”.

It also remains to be seen how the new energy policies of the countries will directly affect the citizen and if it would go to the extreme of “a polarization” world social.

The world could be radicalized in “both sides” antagonistic, with actions even “violent” to respectively defend their climate stances, he warned.

Some might demand much faster action against the climate crisis, concerned about “increasingly severe climate disturbances”; others could mobilize against governments and their climate policies for “not being able to make ends meet” before possible rises in prices and the takeoff of a new model of life.

Source: EFE