Review needed on OSCE response to economic and environmental threats, Secretary General tells annual meeting

The OSCE needs to develop its capacity to respond to ‘very tangible’ threats to security imposed by economic and environmental factors such as water, resource sharing, energy, migration and climate change, OSCE Secretary General told an annual meeting on the topic on 21 October 2013 in Vienna.

Speaking at the Economic and Environmental Dimension Implementation meeting, he welcomed progress in the last ten years and stressed the importance of an inclusive approach. He called for OSCE field operations and international partners to be effective in their work on the ground.

Zannier highlighted the growing importance of energy security and water management, and an increasing debate on migration, with the rise of discussion on climate change now appearing “inexorable”.

“We are all aware that the response to these and other economic and environmental challenges calls for concerted international action. As a security organization, the OSCE seeks to contribute to this effort by acting as a platform for confidence building, dialogue and cooperation,” he said.

The annual meeting is held to assess progress on the way the 57 OSCE participating States are meeting commitments on the issues.

More information on the OSCE works on economic and environmental affairs: https://www.osce.org/eea