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Meeting the Climate Challenge to Global Security
The physical effects of climate change such as melting glaciers, sea level rise, droughts, floods, temperature rises and extreme weather events represent a major threat to the security of states and people. Climate change will turn things we’ve taken for granted: such as fresh water access, stable coastlines or fertile land into scarce resources and therefore potential sources of conflict.
Crop failures, uncontrolled migration, conflict over scare resources such as water and the increased incidence of disease will challenge the integrity of every state and especially those that are already fragile. Climate change acts both as a creator of new threats and a 'threat multiplier', magnifying existing weaknesses and tensions around the world.
The social and economic effects of climate change will also be exacerbated by the estimated rise in world population of 2.5bn over the next 40 years and the intensification of demand for energy, gauged to increase by 50% by 2030.
The national security of the UK is based on international stability so climate change is clearly a serious threat. As the Minister for International Defence and Security, Baroness Ann Taylor, stated during a NATO Arctic Conference in January 2009, 'climate is not a traditional security threat, we cannot deter it, nor can we contain its consequences. The threat can only be limited by addressing the underlying causes through an urgent transition to a global low-carbon economy.'
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