Cancún and Climate Security: New Approaches, Mixed Results

As with previous annual meetings of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), outcomes of the recently concluded 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) have implications for the future trajectory of climate-related security threats. This NTS Alert explores these implications by analysing the shifts in diplomatic approach which defined the COP16, and evaluating what these shifts might portend for the future of international efforts to address climate change. It investigates some of the primary reasons for participants electing to employ new tactics in 2010, reviews the outcomes of these tactics and questions the relevance of the COP16 for climate-related security threats.