Is the Environment a Security Threat or Are We a Threat to the Environment - Term Paper Example

Is the environment a security threat or are we a threat to the environment? “It is evident that many wars are fought over resources which are now becoming increasingly scarce. If we conserved our resources better, fighting over them would not then occur….so, protecting the global environment is directly related to securing peace ….those of us who understand the complex concept of environment have the burden to act. We must not tire, we must not give up, we must persist” – Wangari Mathaai, founder: The Green Belt Movement. Climate change is increasingly emerging as a major security threat to nations worldwide. Today, it is more than just a passing phenomenon and the devastating effects, it might cause, has captured the attention of the global audience. It symbolizes a state – of – the – art progression of environmental drivers of our struggle with nature, along with several other factors including famines, deforestation, water scarcity, epidemics, in the recent decades, crime and encounters over natural resources. In such a rapidly changing global scenario, the concept of security today, is not restricted to political or social factors alone but engulfs a wide range of aspects including environmental, social economic and climate change (Homer, 1991). This latest trend has disentangled our conventional beliefs surrounding the concept and interpretation of the term ‘security’ and has redefined it to suit the new global perspectives. The threats from conventional sources such as congregate armed forces of our uncongenial neighboring adversaries are a thing of the past, since in present times; the countries have to face the challenges thrown by environmental degradation. Hence the underlying object of ‘security’ has changed from the one being restricted to countries to individuals i.e., of people not just territorial borders of nations, but of the general common people across the world. The growing concern and public awareness about environmental issues gained momentum in the 1960s and 70s over the deterioration and pollution of environment. This growing enlightenment about environmental issues provided a strong platform for fuelling the struggle against the intimidating setting and ambiguity of the Cold War as well as the simultaneous depiction of savagery of the Vietnam War. Moreover, the oil crisis of the OPEC in the 1970s provoked the deliberations over the political implications of altercations over the issue of scarcity of natural resources and the ecological carrying capacity of the earth. The issue has also been addressed by the various security experts and academic scholars as being of crucial significance and raised alarm over the capacity of such environmental issues to foreshadow critical issues such as food and water scarcity, and fair and equal allocation of resources, which would in turn lead to large scale migration resulting in heightened tensions and widespread, disputes (Matthew, 1989). Environmental change has been, since long, considered as a major security threat by security analysts the world over and as a consequence several polices have been implemented to address and tackle the issue and recognize the repercussions of sudden and unexpected changes in the climate as an impending menace for international security. For instance, according a report presented in 1994 by Sir David King, chief scientist – British Government, climate change is a far greater threat to the world’s stability than international terrorism (BBC news, 2004). Similarly climate change was acknowledged as a major concern and hence included in the British Foreign Policy, as a major security threat, by the then Foreign Secretary of Britain, Mrs. Margaret Beckett, in the year 2006 at a conference in Berlin (British Embassy – Berlin, 2007). According to a report presented by the retired officers of the U.S. Air Force, in 2007, on Environmental Change and Security Program, it was observed and argued that the recent and ongoing changes in the climate such as rise in sea level, and change in atmosphere are likely to have harmful repercussions such as forced migrations, wide spread epidemics and increased incidences of crime and violence and other such “multiplier” effects which could endanger national security. The report presented to the U.S. government suggested declaring ‘climate change’ as a major security issue owing to its potential to cause serious damage to the security of American citizens as well as its impact on the United States military operations. The study titled National Security and the Threat of Climate Change seeks methods in which the impending environment change is a threat multiplier in already feeble regions and aggravating conditions that result in failed states which in turn serve as thriving centers for anti social activities related to terrorism and extremism. The above figure shows large cities which are likely to be affected the most in case of climate change on account of their huge population and their strategic locations, near sea levels. The findings of the report suggest that the impending environment change is likely to pose as a grave hazard to America’s national security. The gradual change in the atmosphere acts as a threat multiplier for unsteadiness, in some of the most volatile regions of the world. The report, further warned that expected environment change is likely to heighten tensions in even those regions which are relatively stable. Finally it concluded on the note that issues such as national security and energy dependence are interdependent sets of global challenge (CNA, 2008). Similar concerns have been voiced by Russia, where President Dmitri Medvedev commented on the issue of changing climate as an impending danger to the country’s national security suggesting that such a change in environment could make the country uninhabitable within 30 years. He further acknowledged the problem as a threat to the country and expressed concern about the likely effects in case of inaction or failure to take timely and adequate measures to prevent such a disaster. He also said that “Ecology is a question of national security” (AFP, 2008). According to the country’s scientists, the problems faced by the country on account of climate change range from waste emanated from nuclear weapons to the melting of the Siberian permafrost. Another such concern reported in The Guardian, a couple of years back, the sudden change in climate due to irresponsible human activities, if left unattended, could in a gap of approximately twenty years, result in a “global catastrophe” claiming millions of innocent lives in wars, epidemics and other similar natural disasters of equal magnitude. The report presented by the U.S Defense personnel suggested that Britain could be forced to live in Siberian climate in the next twenty years and violent acts of conflicts involving use of nuclear weapons, droughts and famines of unimaginable magnitude and widespread incidences of rioting, looting and other ghastly crimes would dictate human lives. It suggests that, the abrupt change in environmental conditions has the potential of thrusting the planet towards the edge of lawlessness, as nations, battle to acquire a hold over the nuclear threats to protect and safeguard the acute shortage of basic necessities of sustaining life such as food, water, and energy supplies. The threat of deterioration of climate exceeds beyond imagination, the hazards posed by terrorism and political war fare. Commotion and chaos would become the endemic features of life, if appropriate actions by all the nations are not taken on a timely basis (The Guardian, 2008). Several other critical issues that the nations in the future might be forced to deal with and raise concerns over security, include epidemics, over population, unemployment, increased and promiscuous crime, acute shortage of required resources, large scale forced migrations, attrition on account of independence of nation and states, as well as international borders, and the subsequent emancipation of private armies and drug cartels (Kaplan, 1994). The following diagram demonstrates the evolution from equilibrium to rivalry to conflict. Factors such as climate change, explosive population growth, and revolutionary consumption patterns of individuals tend to modify the originally static balance of both resources as well as population thereby ultimately leading to an increased dispute by the groups or communities over residual resources. Such a disagreement further leads to the depravation of aggressive encounters against the backdrop of institutional collapse which occurs in cases where individuals or groups ascertain that certain matters could be resolved only through violence and force. Several countries both developed as well as developing have now woken up to the potential hazards that might be caused due to environmental change and the corresponding effects to their national security. This is apparent from the various measures that have been initiated to safeguard the environmental concerns through the establishment of Kyoto Protocol and similar others, which encourage the participating countries to reduce their environmental footprints and donate towards the cause of the global environment protection. Apart from such joint ventures, the countries on an individual basis should encourage eco – friendly practices as an inevitable part of their every day life. The concept of security does not solely refer to or is not primarily restricted to safeguarding the political borders of a nation in terms of military action, but on the contrary it is a wider concept that encompasses a host of issues including political, social, cultural and environmental in nature. Such a measure is required to be taken with utmost urgency and resolved with the use of civilian means rather than resorting to military acts of violence and destruction. Since the cost of using human aggression is essentially higher resulting in large scale chaos and devastation. Civilian means on the other hand refers to the acts that the individuals, groups or communities both at the national as well as international levels may adopt in resolving conflicts regarding environmental hazards. This would in turn safeguard the countries from the impending doom. Thus resorting to the age old words of wisdom, prevention is better than cure since although diseases might be cured, prevention is relatively cheaper and less painful. The severe natural disasters that the world witnessed in the past several years, be it the devastating effects of the Tsunami that hit the Asian shores or the equally strong and powerful hurricane Katrina in the United States that caused havoc and large scale destruction claiming millions of lives and damaging property worth several billion dollars gives us the perception of imagining the kind and extent of devastation that the global climate change might cause. Although such incidences do not and are not a likely effect of global change, but the extent of damage and the potential of nature to cause chaos could be very well estimated from such horrifying incidences seen across the globe. Such incidences has caused the world communities to sit up and take notice and devise appropriate and prompt measures with increased awareness to avoid such calamities due to the damage they cause to the environment in the future. Countries have shown increased interest and willingness to contribute towards the cause of global warming and have taken active steps to reduce their carbon footprints. Such measures are termed to be in the best interest of the world communities owing to the apparent repercussions of the climate change and the impending damage to their respective nation’s security which will result in dire global consequences. Joint reports by the global community on the likely measures to be taken in favor of safeguarding the planet and its environment largely focus on establishing a wider global environmental policy as against an individual policy that is intended to react on the specific issues concerning a nation’s own security. As the impact of climate change is likely to have wide scale consequences it is in the best interest of the countries to develop a joint mechanism that would deal with the issues such as reducing carbon footprint, eliminating wastes, reduction in green house gas emissions and adopting and encouraging policies that encourage environmental conservation. Such a policy would save the nations from utilizing their military powers in carrying out rescue operations in case of a possible natural calamity. The following report shows the likely impact of climate change on various sectors (Source: IPCC – Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change - Interim Working Group Report, April 1, 2007) National Security is at peril not only at the hands of an impending military assault on its political borders, but from factors within its geo – political borders such as epidemics, increased rate of violence and crime, natural calamities, etc which has the potential to endanger and threaten national security. It is common knowledge now, that incidences of widespread natural disasters such as floods, draught, famines and epidemics caused by nature or mankind, may exhaust the potential of government authorities to react and outrun the capacity of the military forces thus requiring an international intervention. Such natural calamities possess equally dangerous capacity to result in wide spread destruction of mankind similar to the destruction caused by military forces in times of war, which might not be contained by the local and national governmental agencies. Climate change could endanger the national security by destroying key strategic places of political significance such as military bases, research institutions, as well as destroying military assets thus distracting or critically destabilizing substantial resources related to national defense. Countries across the globe are thus apparently highly vulnerable to the impending dangers of climate change and the consequent havoc it might cause in terms of large scale refugee flows as a direct consequence of state failure. Similar consequences could be faced by countries with huge population and living in low lying coastal areas such as a majority of Asian countries and Bangladesh. Factors such as vulnerability to climate change on top of other issues of equal concern such as political and economic instability makes such countries highly susceptible to widespread humanitarian disasters which could only be contained through appropriate measures to conserve our ecological resources and save our planet. References: Mathaai, W. (2008). The Green Belt Movement, viewed: December 8, 2008, from: T. Homer – Dixon, On the Threshold: Environmental Changes as Causes of Acute Conflict, International Security, 16:2, 1991 J.T. Matthew, Redefining Security, Foreign Affairs 68:2, 1989, Pp. 162 – 167 BBC News, Global Warming “biggest threat”, 2004, viewed: December 8, 2008, from: British Embassy Berlin, Beckett Speech on Climate Change and Security, viewed: December 8, 2008, from: Kaplan, R. (1994). The Coming Anarchy – How scarcity, Crime, Overpopulation, Tribalism, and Disease are rapidly destroying the Social Fabric of our Planet, The Atlantic Monthly, February, Pp. 44 – 76. National Security and the Threat of Climate Change, viewed: December 8, 2008, from:< http://securityandclimate.cna.org/> Read More