Climate security refers to the security risks induced, directly or indirectly, by changes in the natural climate. A classic enemy is fought by the military, while every other institution in a country prepares for the consequences of the enemy’s actions. Keeping the severity and complexity of these challenges in mind, security organisations should invest more in understanding and preparing for these future threats, together with a wide range of other relevant actors. Neelam Sandhu is responsible for the operations of the CEO office, including supporting the CEO in managing key customer and government relationships globally, preparation of and for internal and external content and engagements, and driving special cross-functional projects to deliver operational efficiencies. This paper systematically explores the range of possible connections between climate change and security, including national security considerations, human security concerns, military roles, and a discussion of the widely held assumption that climate change may trigger violent conflict. On the one hand, climate change and environmental degradation will make it even more complicated to predict conflicts. This think tank works with a range of partners on projects like Global Forest Watch and Resource Watch, which provide new insights into what is happening on our planet. Water scarcity is expected to rise to unprecedented levels in some regions due to population growth, rapid urbanisation and growing economic demands for water. Supporting climate security. DC Latest: Biden’s Plans On Immigration, Climate Change. The Security Council debate on 17 April was a landmark event, as it marked the recognition of climate change as a core security issue. These new tools could help us to prepare for a different world with new challenges. In the decades to come, and certainly in the second half of this century, climate change will become the biggest challenge humankind has ever faced. This observation is particularly salient within the United States. Given the complexities of the planet’s interacting processes, it is difficult to predict exactly what will happen at different mean temperatures –but basically the hotter it gets, the greater the disruption will be to weather patterns, ecosystems and sea levels. Future historians may find it hard to explain why we acted so late to prepare for these planetary security challenges. The media focuses on stories that will bring in money through views, clicks and “likes”. As Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) stated upon the release of the WMO provisional Statement on the State of the Climate in 2019: “If we do not take urgent climate action now, then we are heading for a temperature increase of more than 3°C by the end of the century, with ever more harmful impacts on human wellbeing.”. In one case, scarcity may drive conflict and migration, while in another it may forge innovation and cooperation. The World Meteorological Organization said there was no previous record of two storms of such intensity striking the country in the same season. These new movements join the countless scientists who have warned for decades that we are doing too little too late. Tackling climate change requires a global effort, from governments, businesses, communities, and individuals. The pathways through which these risks manifest is highly contextual and determined by the interaction between climatic hazards, exposure, and, most importantly, the … Water scarcity is expected to rise in some regions due to population growth, rapid urbanisation and growing economic demands for water. The Water Security and Climate Change conference (WSCC) is an annual event where scientists, policy makers and stakeholders from various sectors discuss the diverse facets of water security and its relation to climate variability and change. Countries' stances on climate change often mirror other geopolitical aims. An expert explains the urgent need both for effective climate change action and for steps to be taken to prepare for life in a drastically different world, where global warming and related environmental degradation will impact on security. Climate change has risen up the Security Council agenda in recent years. Climate change as a national security issue In her response, Malini Mehra states that the continued framing of climate change as an environmental issue is a contributing reason for it getting short shrift in terms of policy attention. Security is a multifaceted concept. She holds a Bachelor’s degree, with Honors, in Business Management, from the University of Leicester and an Executive Certification in Financial Analysis from the University of California at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Climate change is therefore often described as a ‘risk multiplier’ a ‘fragility amplifier’ or even a ‘catalyst’ of conflict. The human security framework helps international, national and local actors to better coordinate responses to climate change. President-elect Joe Biden is 50 days away from assuming office as commander-in-chief. Mozambique was hit by two violent cyclones in March and April 2019, which together killed around 700 people. Humidity and heat could make large parts of the tropic zones uninhabitable for at least part of the year. Photo © Club of Mozambique. There is no legitimate doubt that human activity is accelerating the greenhouse effect, which results in global warming. 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. Climate change will shift planet’s rain belt, threatening food security for billions, scientists say. Accepting the reality of climate change, cooperating between all relevant stakeholders, and showing visionary leadership are some essential steps for the way forward. The human factor, in particular, is difficult to predict: what decisions will be taken by individuals and governments when confronted with climate change? Neelam Sandhu Population growth, socio-economic activities and increasing effects of climate change have perturbed the elements of the water cycle across multiple temporal and spatial scales. BlackBerry. This challenge is being exacerbated by ecosystem losses and climate change impacts. The exponential growth in resource extraction, use of fossil fuels, production, consumption and waste has contributed to the rise in CO2 emissions, extensive pollution, and loss of biodiversity, impacting all kinds of other processes on the planet. UNEP is one of the hosts of another digital data project called the World Environment Situation Room (powered by MapX). Economic instability, infrastructure risks, decreased water supplies and social unrest are named as a few of the potential outcomes of the climate change trajectory we are on today. Some first promising results were presented last year in the UN Security Council. Read more here about our cookies, and how you can Unfortunately, the future could have much more extreme scenarios in store for us. A growing, but still relatively small part of the public, is beginning to realise this and is calling on governments to act much more decisively. Governments concentrate on winning the next elections, which makes current spending on preparing for the world of the future less popular (proposing relevant measures to encourage people to fly less and eat less meat are still considered a career-ending move in mainstream politics). While we prepared for nuclear war as a risk that could happen, we are less sure if, or how, we should prepare for the inevitable consequences of climate change. This nearly universal membership gives legitimacy to its main aim of mitigating the human effect on climate change. Vice President of Business Operations & Strategic Accounts, Office of the CEO This paper systematically explores the range of possible connections between climate change and security, including national security considerations, human security concerns, military roles, and a discussion of the widely held assumption that climate change may trigger violent conflict. There is a tendency to wait for others to act first, to point at other countries’ contribution to the problem, and to close our eyes, our hearts and our borders to those people who are most affected. We do not have the luxury to postpone effective climate action any longer. And even on a personal level, we all know that the climate emergency is generally not a welcome topic of conversation during dinner with friends and family. Our societies tend to suffer from short-termism and there is a lack of urgency to deal with long-term threats. One of the reasons they may identify for the world’s slow reaction to both the cause and impacts of the climate crisis is that our institutions tend to work in silos and through government structures set up in a different era to confront a different sort of dangers.