The program of work for the Security Council in February will be focused on the global challenges of climate, COVID-19 and conflict, said the president of the council on Monday.
"Our overall objective is a Security Council that addresses significant global challenges. And those, I think, come into three words beginning with C: COVID, conflict and climate," said British ambassador to the United Nations, Barbara Woodward, whose country holds the rotating Security Council presidency for the month of February.
"But we also want to see a Security Council that is taking the opportunity for new agreements, given the new (elected) members and the new commitment of the U.S. administration to multilateralism. We also want to have a focus on transparency, on outcomes, and on the perspective of youth, because the challenges that we face now are truly inter-generational challenges," she added.
Briefing reporters on the Security Council's program of work for February, Woodward said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will preside over an open debate on climate security on Feb. 23. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has agreed to brief the council.
The debate will look, in particular, at the threats that climate change poses to conflict, to peace and security, the way in which droughts lead to famine, famine and floods cause displacement, she said. "So we want to explore this sort of linkages and look at ways of preventing risks to peace and security."
Britain will host the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, later this year.
"Our second priority is COVID, and vaccinations are of course the most important element of combatting the spread of COVID at the moment. It's a challenge that demands a global, a truly global response. Because as we all know, no one is safe until we are all safe," said Woodward.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will chair a meeting of the Security Council on Feb. 18 to look at the way in which vaccine rollout could impact on peace and security, she said.
On the conflict issues, the Security Council will discuss Syria, Myanmar, Yemen as well as the threats posed by the Islamic State terrorist group, said the ambassador.
