Home  /  Newsroom  /  News Archive  /  2023  /  SECOND ITERATION OF CIVIL-MILITARY CO-OPERATION IN THE MARITIME DOMAIN SEMINAR CONCLUDED SUCCESSFULLY

Oeiras, Portugal – The second iteration of the Civil-Military Co-operation (CIMIC) in the maritime domain Seminar happen last Tuesday through Wednesday, on 11th through 13th of July, 2023, at the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), in Lisbon.

This annual seminar is the only one within NATO that focuses on CIMIC specifically in the maritime domain. This year's main topic of discussion was "The Impact of Climate Change and the Increase in Environmental Disasters on the Work of CIMIC".

Like its predecessor, this three-day seminar allowed NATO units, international organizations (IOs), and civilian agencies, combined with participants from the scientific community, to brainstorm solutions and identify existing gaps related to climate change and natural disasters, ultimately refining our approach and understanding.

This year's seminar brought together participants from NATO Allies such as Canada, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, the Netherlands and the United States. Bringing together their knowledge and agreement in this crucial matter, the protection of the environment, more specifically the seas and oceans.

For this purpose, briefers specialized in this particular topic were invited. From the scientific world, these were mainly from the Naval Post Graduate School, the Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) and representatives from universities with a focus on legal subjects. But this seminar also counted with briefers from civilian agencies such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the World Food Program and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), NATO itself - represented by the Civil Military Cooperation Center of Excellence (CCOE) and some from the European Union - Operation Irini and European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA).

A special guest was also present at the meeting, the former Portuguese Minister of Agriculture and Sea - Mrs. Assunção Cristas.

Climate change affects all aspects of our lives, whether we are aware of it or not. The continuous degradation of our planet inevitably leads to natural disasters that endanger our lives in all areas. That's why these meetings with the military, civilian and scientific community are fundamentally important and necessary, not only to understand the climate risk and what is in our power to reduce it, but also to be aware of what intervention teams like the military can do to continuously protect people from these catastrophes.