Climate Change as a Security Risk

Description

For Policy-makers — 1. Introduction — 2. Environmental change in security discourse — 2.1. Redefining security — 2.2. Current security policy strategies — 2.3. WBGU’s aims and use of terms — 3. Known conflict impacts of environmental change — 3.1. State of conflict research at the interface of environment and security — 3.2. World map of past environmental conflicts — 3.3. War and conflict research — 3.4. Conclusions — 4. Rising conflict risks due to state fragility and a changing world order — 4.1. Introduction — 4.2. State fragility and the limits of governance — 4.3. Unstable multipolarity: The political setting of global change — 4.4. Conclusions — 5. Impacts of climate change on the biosphere and human society — 5.1. Changes in climatic parameters — 5.2. Climate impacts upon human well-being and society — 5.3. Non-linear effects and tipping points — 6. Conflict constellations — 6.1. Methodology — 6.2. Conflict constellation ‘Climate-induced degradation of freshwater resources’ — 6.3. Conflict constellation: ‘Climate-induced decline in food production’ — 6.4. Conflict constellation: ‘Climate-induced increase in storm and flood disasters’ — 6.5. Conflict constellation: ‘Environmentally induced migration’ — 7. Hotspots of climate change: Selected regions — 7.1. Arctic and Subarctic — 7.2. Southern Europe and North Africa — 7.3. Sahel zone — 7.4. Southern Africa — 7.5. Central Asia — 7.6. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh — 7.7. China — 7.8. Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico — 7.9. Andes region — 7.10. Amazon region — 8. Climate change us a driver of social destabilization and threat to international security — 8.1. Climate-induced conflict constellations: Analysis and findings — 8.2. International climate policy scenarios and their long-term implications — 8.3. Climate change as a threat to international security — 9. Research recommendations — 9.1. Understanding the climate-security nexus – fundamentals — 9.2. Policies to prevent and contain conflict — 9.3. Conflict constellations and their prevention — 10. Recommendations for action — 10.1. WBGU’s key findings — 10.2. Scope for action Oil the part of the German government — 10.3. The window of opportunity for climate security: 2007-2020 — 10.4. Window missed – mitigation failed: Strategies in the event of destabilization and conflict — 11. References — 12. Glossary — 13. Index.

• Author: Hans Joachim Schellnhuber
• Publisher: Earthscan
• Published: 2007
• Pages: 270
• ISBN-13: 9781849775939