UNITED NATIONS: British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett on Tuesday opened a ground-breaking debate on climate change in the UN Security Council, stressing the need for a shared understanding of the linkage between energy, climate and security.

The debate, chaired by Britain in its capacity as president of the 15-member council for April, marked the first time global warming is taken up by a body tasked with preserving international peace and security. Responding to reservations expressed by some council members about whether the council was the appropriate forum to deal with the burning issue, Beckett emphasised the security dimension of climate change.

“This is a ground-breaking day. For the first time we will debate climate change as a matter of international peace and security,” Beckett told reporters.—AFP