"We're going to focus on security issues of climate change. We don't want to replicate all of the various fora in which climate change is being discussed."
Attitudes toward bringing up climate change at the Security Council have changed dramatically in the past few years, and advocates of council action say the tide has turned from strong opposition to possible action on the matter.
...Wittig took pains to stress that the council will only discuss the "security implications" of climate change...
Discussions will hopefully be narrowly focused on "the existential threat, especially to small island states and coastal states, by sea level rise" as well as "the effects that climate change has on food security and the risk that it entails for the maintenance of peace and security," Wittig said.
Small island governments want the Security Council to go even further.
John Silk, foreign minister of the Marshall Islands, said his and other governments will press to have the Security Council appoint a special adviser on climate and security. Such an adviser, he said, should be charged with investigating where and how territory may be lost as a result of a rise in global sea levels.
Scientists say that ocean warming and ice cap melting will make a rise in ocean levels of 1 to 2 meters by 2100 inevitable.
The Marshall Islands minister also said small island governments want the council to discuss climate change on a regular basis, ideally once every month.
By placing the issue permanently on the agenda, advocates of climate action said they hope a general sense of urgency will grow stronger and perhaps propel international climate negotiations toward a successful conclusion.