A new wave of migration will begin as climate change leads to increased global conflict, European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker warned today.
Speaking to members of the European parliament in the annual state of the union address, Juncker said that climate change is changing the sources of conflict.
"Control over a dam or a lake can be more strategic than an oil refinery. Climate change is one of the root causes of a new migration phenomenon. Climate refugees will become a new challenge - if we do not act swiftly," he said.
The EU's pledge to reduce economy-wide emissions by at least 40% by 2030 is the most ambitious to be presented to the UN so far, he claimed, adding that other countries are following, but some only reluctantly.
"Let me be very clear to our international partners: the EU will not sign just any deal [at the Paris climate summit]. My priority, Europe's priority, is to adopt an ambitious, robust and binding global climate deal," he said.
Juncker pledged that his commission would continue to lead the fight against climate change, and that the work would not stop after the UN negotiations in December. "Paris will be the next stop but not the last stop. There is a road to Paris; but there is also a road from Paris," he said.
