Climate Change Lecture at NDA by Cmde Rajan Vir
President of IMF, Cmde R Vir was a guest speaker at the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla in March. He addressed the 5th and the 6th term naval cadets on “ Climate Change and its Impact on the Oceans”. He was received at the Peacock Bay by Cdr Harvinder Avtar , O I/C, Naval Training Team and his officers.
Towards the end of his lecture, while touching upon the impact on global security and conflicts, Cmde Vir spoke about how climate change ranks alongside terrorism as a primary threat to the world and how it can pose risks to our national security, from the destruction of coastal infrastructure and major defence installations which are vulnerable to higher sea levels, storm surges and flooding.
Climate change will not cause wars, but it serves as an “accelerant of instability” or a “threat multiplier”, that makes existing threats such as, resource security, extreme weather, food security, water insecurity, refugee flows, sea-level rise, etc, to threaten societies around the world. The response to these threats will determine whether climate change could lead to war. He spoke about how a recent study in Oxford had shown that South Asia faces more threats from climate change than any other region.
Cmde Vir reminded the naval cadets, belonging to the seafaring profession as they do, that climate change can be a challenge more than any other that will shape their careers in the decades ahead.
In the foreseeable future, in the event of some conflict arising from climate change, our Navy and the Coast Guard will indeed be called upon to rise to the occasion to protect our vital maritime interests!
