CiR2P Option 24 | Diplomatic peacemaking
DISCUSSION:
Diplomatic peacemaking, one of the less intrusive and coercive options along the Reaction spectrum, involves the early and effective mobilisation of political and diplomatic resources to bring back under control a mass-harm situation.
To help retrieve an out-of-control situation, Western governments could seek to mobilise one or a combination of four key resource domains:
- eminent individuals
- the UN secretary-general and his “good offices”
- regional organisations
- NGOs
Their core mission, once deployed, is to try to persuade the key parties through negotiation, mediation and facilitation that their interests and pride will not suffer from implementing a civilian protection agenda.
As the world warms, deploying climate-informed ‘resources’ that have a deep understanding about the risks and opportunities posed by climate change in the local context, and work to centralise them in a protection agenda such as peace negotiations, may become a very important dimension to reaching durable agreement that priorities the safety of civilians.
A climate-informed diplomatic peacemaking mission could include, for instance, staff that understand downscaled (localised) climate change impact forecast models; technical ground water and climate-smart agricultural experts; urban and rural land-use and planning experts; specialists in low pollution transport, energy, industries; as well as knowledge brokers involved in international climate finance. Traditional peacemakers such as an eminent individual could use this information to help build a durable climate-informed peace agreement.