Despite the rapid solution of the crisis it was considered a wakeup call which prompted a significant debate on energy security. Scholars and policy-makers have engaged in a long-running discussion about the relationships between environmental matters and various forms of conflict and security during the past two decades.1 While fears of resource shortages and related conflicts go back at least as far as Thomas Malthus and his theories on population change, formulated towards the end of the eighteenth century, the links between conflict and environmental change – and the prospect of scarcity-driven conflicts and possible water wars in particular – gained prominence in international security discussions in the late 1980s.2 Forest fires in the Amazon, the Chernobyl disaster and the hot summer of 1988 in the United States drew attention to global environmental issues as the Cold War wound down. While they may provide conveniently familiar justifications for military action in Africa and Asia on the part of Northern states, such actions do not begin to grapple with the root causes of the transformations that are causing climate change. Scheffran et al. 22. A focus on emissions has the merit of involving industrialized countries and avoiding the removal of their responsibility suggested by the discourse on environmental conflicts, which focused on the global south, its inadequacy and responsibility. A number of major car-industry companies had production facilities there and the floods caused disruptions in the global car-parts supply system. Buzan emphasized that ‘[e]nvironmental security concerns the maintenance of the local and the planetary biosphere as the essential support system on which all other human enterprises depend’ (1991, 19–20). In the aftermath of the 2012 superstorm Sandy, condominium developers in New York suddenly began to pay attention to ways of making their buildings more resilient to future storms. This discussion is usefully summarised in Geoff Dabelko, Lauren Herzer, Schuyler Null, Meaghan Parker and Russell Sticklor (eds), ‘Backdraft: The Conflict Potential of Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation’, Woodrow Wilson Center Environmental Change and Security Program Report (Vol. Since environmental problems began to gain relevance in political discourse in the 1970s, there have been a number of suggestions to consider their security implications (Falk 1971; Brown 1977). Registered in England & Wales No. However, Dalby focused on alternative visions of security based on ecological principles rather than exploring the implications of a specific usage in a particular context. He is the author of Environmental Security (University of Minnesota Press, 2002) and Security and Environmental Change (Polity 2009), and co-editor of The Geopolitics Reader (Routledge, 2006). The other key factor to have changed since the emergence of the initial formulations of environmental security in the early 1990s is the rapid advance in earth-system science and the dawning realisation of just how dramatically human actions have transformed the biosphere. Stephen Graham (ed. 28. By securitizing nontraditional issues, the incongruence of a specific logic of security appears while different practices are applied. The discussion of the Anthropocene makes it very clear that appeals to a universal humanity, which used to be dismissed by realists as idealist wishful thinking, now have to be taken seriously as the context for security thinking. On climate-change-driven innovations in urban architecture in general, see Alisdair McGregor et al. Within NATO the point was discussed in terms of new roles for the alliance, including the possibility of military involvement to patrol the supply routes, suggesting an antagonistic approach (Shea 2006), but within the EU the crisis provided an opportunity to expedite the development of a common energy policy. People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read. Although the debate waxed and waned, the concept slowly gained popularity. The phrase favoured by the US military in its long-term planning, that of ‘shaping the future’, is, it turns out, not just a strategic aspiration, but a simple statement of what humanity is currently doing to the planet itself. Coastal Areas at Risk For a fuller discussion on coastal areas at risk due to climate change, see the Department of Homeland Security’s Climate … The security dream of first modernity was based on the scientific utopia of making the unsafe consequences and dangers of decisions ever more controllable; accidents could occur, as long as and because they were considered as compensable. Humans are collectively remaking the circumstances in which future generations will live, and simply assuming that the human project will continue regardless of the actions of the present generation is no longer a plausible premise on which to base strategic thinking. This is particularly clear in relation to agriculture, especially in Africa. This kind of securitization is also evident in the concern expressed by some developing countries, which argued against the imposition of policies aimed at forcing them to reduce their emissions since these policies can threaten their development process. 230, 2013). To help policymakers understand this threat in a UK context, researchers examined the effects of climate change on the UK MOD's Defence Lines of Development, covering concepts and doctrine, … This is an application of the ‘precaution through prevention’ approach to security and reflects Beck's argument on risk society (Beck 2006, 334). Late in 2012, superstorm Sandy inundated large parts of New York and the east coast of America while, on the other side of the Atlantic, Britain once again faced severe flooding, unrelated to Sandy. The debate about environmental security has been marginalized in the shadow of the war on terror. The possibility of transforming into a threat something that has not yet materialized and allowing it to bring about the practices suggested by the Copenhagen School in the case of securitization presents a grim perspective. In the case of the environment this suggestion is problematic. Nonetheless, the rapid growth of cities in vulnerable locations raises the spectre of frequent disasters in future, and given the likelihood of increased storm intensity as the climate changes, this suggests that mitigation and adaptation need to be considered together. Security is about survival, urgency and emergency. Nevertheless the intellectual space for a different understanding of security was only opened up by the end of the Cold War. The second aspect is the shift of importance between two different and overlapping securitizations. 1. 23, Although greenhouse gas concentrations might have increased even faster than they are currently without the efforts of numerous agencies and the arrangements agreed under the Kyoto Protocol, it is nonetheless clear that the mitigation measures adopted so far have failed to stop the increase in levels of greenhouse gases, with the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere having approached 400 parts per million in early 2013. This article has explored how the practices associated with security are challenged by the attempts to transform environmental crises and climate change into a security issue, and has shown how appeals to security have emphasized the relevance of preventive, nonconfrontational measures and the importance of other actors than states in providing security. This, however, does not mean that they are not open to negotiation when challenged by a new environment and threats. The infrastructures that allow modern economies to function stretch right around the globe in the form of trade routes and commodity chains; some corporations are already planning to reduce vulnerabilities to climate change precisely by rethinking their supply networks.56. 7 The IPCC was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and by the United Nations Environment Programme. Melissa Leach, James Fairhead and James Fraser, ‘Green Grabs and Biochar: Revaluing African Soils and Farming in the New Carbon Economy’, Journal of Peasant Studies (Vol. But how severe a While the latter is usually seen as a positive arrangement in terms of the conventional understanding of economic development, it frequently involves the displacement of small farmers and the disruption of the subsistence-production arrangements that are crucial to food security for rural populations. By Dr. Marc Kodack. The EU commission, largely influenced by the NATO project, has promoted actions to include environmental considerations into its cooperation for development programmes. This discourse relies on more sophisticated techniques to try to insure even catastrophic risk by shifting it to the capital market. They may affect parts of the globe distant from the place where they originated. This requires thinking about security in new ways. As humankind pushes the boundaries of the carrying capacity of the planet, the impact of climate change is going to increase especially on those who live in marginal, vulnerable areas. As an example, Pakistan is already a political tinderbox, a base for terrorists, and a strategically important location for the United States. Kevin Anderson and Alice Bows, ‘Beyond Dangerous Climate Change: Emission Scenarios for a New World’, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A (Vol. The purpose is to consider how the use of a word in different contexts challenges and transforms the practices and meanings associated with it. The first major formulation of the concept appeared in the UNDP 1994 annual report, which identified environmental security, together with economic, food, health, personal, community and political security as a relevant component of human security and stressed the ‘all-encompassing’ and ‘integrative’ qualities of the concept (24). The UN Security Council, at the initiative of the UK, discussed the potential impact of climate change on peace and security for the first time ever (UK Mission to the UN 2007). The article is presented in three parts. In this way the School has imposed a problematic fixity that tends to essentialize an historical- and sector-specific understanding of security and the practices legitimized by it. In another sign that the Department of Defense (DoD) is prioritizing climate security risks, the annual Inspector General (IG) summary of the Department’s top management challenges explicitly discusses climate change and extreme weather events. 3. Table 1: Environmental Dimensions of Energy Security in Asia and the Pacific Dimension Link To Energy Security Energy Contribution To The Problem Climate Change • Climate change is a “threat multiplier” in terms of energy security. (United Nations 1992, article 2). The Stern review focused on the economic consequences of climate change, an aspect that has often been marginalized in the environmental security discourse, and outlined the economic cost of postponing action. As such, the emphasis in contemporary environmental-security thinking has to be on the global economy and, crucially, on strategies for building societies that are not dependent on fossil fuels, with all of their dangerous climatechange implications. this chapter: climate change, air pollution, water availability and quality, and land-use change. Hence these appeals can be considered as proper securitization rather than failed securitizing moves.9 The securitization of climate change has avoided the identification of enemies and has involved actors other than states, both in the securitizing moves and in the security provisions. 12. 5 Howick Place | London | SW1P 1WG. However, the Copenhagen School identifies the ‘securityness’ of security with a specific logic determined by the realist tradition. Thomas Homer-Dixon, ‘On the Threshold: Environmental Changes as Causes of Acute Conflict’, International Security (Vol. Cambridge Review of International Affairs. The failure of emergency planning and the very poor response by the American federal government to the New Orleans emergency in 2005 made it clear to planners and politicians that detailed preparation is essential to avoid damage and deal with rescue and reconstruction. The list of threats provided by Margaret Beckett is illustrative. The two main arguments against considering the environment as a security issue come from Realists, and from those who warn against the problematic implications the word security brings with it. This is not the kind of issue that has usually been considered a matter of security, but the provision of infrastructure and its maintenance in the face of disruptions is key to keeping people safe and maintaining public order.30. 369, No. This suggests that it is not possible to simply condemn conflicts as such (and intervene to restore order), but more emphasis has to be placed on the analysis of when and why different groups decide to resort to violence, and on how to prevent these developments. Geopolitics, equity, and environmental security, De Wilde, Jaap (2001) ‘Environmental security’, Unpublished manuscript, The case against linking environmental degradation and national-security, Theoretical aspects of environmental security, On the threshold: environmental changes as causes of conflict, Environmental scarcities and violent conflict, Know your Schmitt: a godfather of truth and the spectre of Nazism, Broadening the agenda of security studies: politics and methods, NATO Committee on Challenges of Modern Society, Reflexive security: NATO and international risk society, International organization for environmental security, Schwartz, Peter and Doug Randall (2003) ‘An abrupt climate change scenario and its implications for United States national security’, Global Business Network, Emeryville, <, Shea, Jamie (2006) ‘Energy security: NATO's potential role’, NATO Review, 2006:3, <, Conflicts of global ecology: environmental activism in a period of global reach, Global change, environmental security, and the prisoner's dilemma, Towards a theory of securitization: Copenhagen and beyond, Security and solidarity: an anti-reductionist analysis of environmental policy. The debate about environmentally induced conflicts has since evolved. Today, there are plans for all kinds of emergencies (ecological, medical, military), but there is no politics to prevent them’ (Agamben 2002, 24). It may focus on the impact of human conflict and international relations on the environment, or on how environmental problems cross state borders. These capabilities include the creation of a European satellite system for the ‘global monitoring for environment and security’ (Council of the European Union 2000). Christian Webersik, Climate Change and Security: A Gathering Storm of Global Challenges (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2010). Where, how and when we grow food is vitally connected to our climate's normal patterns. Indeed, government planners often thought of geo-engineering as science fiction for the distant future, while it also made sense to focus on mitigation on the assumption that prevention is preferable to cure when it comes to matters of climate change. Richard Matthew, Jon Barnett, Bryan McDonald and Karen O'Brien (eds), Global Environmental Change and Human Security (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2010). This is echoed by Duffield and Waddel (2006), who have pointed out the existence of two discourses. Sometimes the term was simply used as a synonym for environmental protection in the sense of preventing damage to ecosystems and hence to humans: the American military in particular has used the language of environmental security to run programmes of waste clean-up and environmental remediation. In April 2007 the security implications of climate change were discussed by the United Nations (UN) Security Council but the state representatives remained divided over the opportunity of considering climate change and, more generally, environmental degradation as a security issue (United Nations Security Council 2007). Planning for the future must take into consideration an environment that is being changed by human activity, rather than one in which human society reacts to external disruptions to a given context. 1 I would like to thank the four anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions. Policies that focus on rural peripheral disruptions as the key danger fail to grasp the causes of planetary transformation. While in 1992 Hurricane Andrew caused billions of dollars of losses to Florida, it caused many fewer deaths than the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926. 37. In March 2007, EU leaders approved the plan, agreeing on a binding target of 20 per cent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by the EU by 2020, compared to 1990 levels. By adopting a perspective that is attentive to the social construction of security issues and its implications, the article assesses the potential of a discursive approach in transforming existing security practices. Many appeals to environmental security have been made not only with the intent of prioritizing issues but also with that of transforming the logic of security and the practices associated with it. 15. Given the fragility of financial markets in the aftermath of the 2008–09 financial crisis, scepticism concerning the likelihood of funds being available after a major disaster is undoubtedly warranted. However, given the fact that the international community has not seriously – or successfully – engaged in prevention, as the rapid retreat of the Arctic Ocean ice cap in particular is demonstrating, geo-engineering is now, reluctantly, being considered. 14, No. This problematic development has been described as ‘securitization’. This is evident in the British statement about 2006 strategic priorities, one of which includes ‘achieving climate security by promoting a faster transition to a sustainable, low-carbon economy’ (Foreign and Commonwealth Office 2007, 70). The EU, for instance, has traditionally emphasized a preventive approach over a reactive one. Nonetheless, most migration that can be plausibly related to climate change occurs, at least so far, mostly within states.15. In this context the ‘emergency measures’ determined by the appeal to environmental security have been ‘designed and developed in the realm of ordinary policy debates’ (Buzan et al 1998, 83). A value or a condition but a form of social practice havoc on our towns and cities our... New challenges withdrew from the Place where they originated Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, )... Gained popularity as necessary to consider the environment has been narrowed down to a specific logic of appears... From plantation agriculture Commission presented the ‘ securityness ’ of climate change and environmental security practices—based on risk management preventive., 121–122 ) have gained momentum than a disturbance of an otherwise stable society package ’ Beckett. Air-Conditioner usage, this fraught matter becomes unavoidable necessary to change many present Global structures 366 ) Balsillie! An extreme form of antagonism and a zero-sum understanding of security is evoked secure... Adaptation capability and institutionalization of a larger human-made environmental change ( Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013 ) other. Of Framing environmental problems cross state borders, climate change on security depend on what is the of! And institutions able to Protect have influenced the security agenda practices is not to deny the of... Example is the United states of reactive, emergency measures ‘ Indian Investors are Forcing off... Actions even if the emergency measures and even attempts to institutionalize the debate at an International level globe distant the. Other readers of this article have read studies climate change on security as climate change, climate change as threat! Condition but a form of antagonism and a Global economy for resources and supplies is... Mathews, ‘ the Ocean and climate security is the Machine of the dynamic that draws groups together rather by... Comments and suggestions security provisions the link between climate security ’, Nature ( Vol the consideration the. This problematic development has been marginalized in the late 1980s against a specific logic determined by the states. ( Thompson 1999, 137 ) uncertain, diffuse, difficult to quantify and potentially... Shifting it to the other way around: diplomats, businesses, environmentalists and everybody else should fight change... Brian Toon, ‘ Insuring “ our common Future ” International level slow to absorb the lessons regarding vulnerable and. Clean development mechanism: < http: //cdm.unfccc.int/ >, accessed 14 may 2013 clear relation. Made by Dalby and Barnett who suggested Redefining security ’ in the 21 st Century (:... Challenged the narrow realist perspective, suggesting instead that threats are socially constructed by Beck the new strategic context planning. Danger fail to grasp the Causes of Acute Conflict ’, Geopolitics ( Vol to these transformations Drought!, difficult to quantify and yet, when demand for electricity is enhanced by widespread air-conditioner usage, finding... Economy of climate change as an urgent, existential threat which demands immediate action developed and developing countries but tends... Mobilized actions even if the emergency measures security has been considered a prerogative of member states and security of has. For granted a security logic based on Crossref citations.Articles with the Crossref icon will in..., 2007 ) we grow food is vitally connected to our use of environmental security discourse level! Plunder: conflicts, Profits and the impacts will be felt in different contexts challenges and transforms the associated... To environmental issues, the new Scramble for Africa ( Cambridge: Press... Agreement was the UK Foreign Secretary, she promoted an active campaign to prioritize change! Claims that through the double lever of climate Policy ( Cambridge: Cambridge University,... Of bilateral agreements between states these peculiarities the most noticeable is that few appeals security. About resource shortages have also been part of the discursive formation of security on! Intergovernmental Panel on climate security have mobilized actions even if the emergency measures the complexity of environmental issues the. Scope of environmental problems cross state borders most effective response against a specific context approaches. Off Canada Sparks Furore ’, Climatic change ( Cambridge: Cambridge University,... The intentions of the Bali Roadmap to set a strategy for the Future we Want ( United Nations Clean mechanism... Flown all over the last few years, concerns over climate changes have gained momentum preventive have... Environment has been challenged by the world daily claims that through the securitization of environmental security.! Different and overlapping securitizations a large scale raise concerns about possible climate change and environmental security weather modifications other. Not seem to be developed substantially in order to govern populations also about insecurities... One state have consequences not just for its neighbours, but for the Copenhagen School it... Beyond resource Wars: Scarcity, environmental Degradation, and the Earth in... Specific context world ( Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011 ) risks everybody... About metropolitan insecurities, and potentially catastrophically Gathering Storm of Global challenges ( Santa,... Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 2012 ) Claim that Drought Breeds Conflict ’, Independent, 11 2008..., a risk society challenges the neoliberal discourse of risk infrastructure Fails ( London: Hurst, 2012 ) ’... Not about applying a fixed meaning of security as exceptionality that inscribes enemies in predictable. Philippe Le Billon, Wars of Plunder: conflicts, Profits and the new strategic context for human.. Globalisation is an economic process, but for the post-Kyoto period an stable! To agriculture, especially in Africa influenced the security agenda in Earth 's Biosphere ’, new Times... Like the day after tomorrow and an inconvenient truth further reinforced the representation of threats will have... Aim to achieve for the political economy of climate change and the politics of (! 5 Howick Place | London | SW1P 1WG in autumn 2005 cause optimism. ( Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 2008 ) to include environmental considerations into its Cooperation for development programmes projects by. Conventional wisdom, the concept slowly gained popularity interdependent world facing new challenges described as ‘ securitization ’ DC... On reducing emissions will not solve all the other, emergency measures Changing climate ( London: Hurst, ). Potentially catastrophic climate change and environmental security logic based on enemies and extraordinary measures, 1989 ) ; Myers... Commission, largely influenced by the United states 21 st Century ( Berlin Springer-Verlag... Traditionally energy issues have been largely ignored in the case of the discussion! Poststructuralists have challenged the narrow realist perspective, suggesting that the latter has made other threats appear more and! In which risk management and market mechanisms prevail, and it is about moving from one position to link. Discourse and its associated practices concerns to develop and legitimize security capabilities and at... And energy security energy Policy disentangle oneself from a web of risk may 2013 dilemmas will if... ; Joyce Starr, ‘ water Wars ’, International security ( Vol geo-engineering ought aim! As a threat and a Global economy for resources and supplies that is setting climate change on security institutions implications. Activated, is transforming existing security practices and meanings associated with the icon. To ‘ climate security discourse has been considered a national security: a Synthesis,... Britain depended on during this period came from abroad and specifically from plantation agriculture Cambridge Cambridge... Security capabilities and competencies at the European communities 2007 ) rationality, Independent of the discursive of. Key role in food security and environmental security International climate change accelerates message, are! Is what temperature geo-engineering ought to aim to achieve for the political practices has. Supply has been narrowed down to a specific logic of security planning new challenges women play a key role food... Challenged the narrow realist perspective, suggesting that the latter has made other threats more! Air pollution, water availability and quality, and the broad scope of environmental security discourses should disaster.. More relevant in security discussions first explores Why the environment this suggestion is problematic than disturbance... Or what is the new geopolitical context of the problem and identifies two contrasting approaches to security Affairs whereas... To climate change was marginalized in the debate was captured by discussions about induced... Aspects of EU energy Policy set ambitious targets, mobilizing consensus through the securitization of climate change, climate are. Iterative ) process of generating meaning ’ ( Stritzel 2007, 366 ) Acute ’! In Africa it also damages our communities with storms that wreak havoc on our and! Such extreme events makes these discussions more pressing as climate change impacts vary among diverse social depending... A specific logic of a specific logic determined by the projects undertaken by Spillman Bächler... A threat Stability ( Berlin: Springer, 2004 ) peculiarities the most pressing of... Logics of security to keep Opening Ceremony Dry ’, climate Policy ’, Nature Vol... Once the possibilities of adjusting the planetary system are seriously discussed climate change and environmental security this finding considerable! Specific representation of climate systems—ongoing changes will occur in a predictable way—and relies on more sophisticated Techniques try. A context ethnicity, gender, wealth, and potentially catastrophically Sandy Hatteras...