Statement by Foreign Minister Wadephul at the start of the Berlin Climate and Security Conference

Foreign Minister Wadephul issued the following statement today (6 October 2026) at the start of the Berlin Climate and Security Conference: Here in Germany, we, too, have recently felt the dramatic impact of climate change, with lives claimed by extreme temperatures and low river levels disrupting supply chains. In other countries, extreme weather events such as heat, drought, storms or floods lead to crop failures, hunger and migration pressures, and thus also to conflicts over ever scarcer resources. In fragile states in particular, climate change intensifies hardship and hunger, and can therefore also become a breeding ground for extremism and terrorism or lead to waves of migration. The current Super El Niño threatens to destroy the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people – and this at a time when grain prices are rising all over the world because Russia is attacking ships carrying grain in the Black Sea, thus cutting people worldwide who are particularly dependent on imports off from supplies. Done well, climate change mitigation helps to foster overall security, in part because it makes states more resilient. If Russia once again targets Ukraine’s energy i...