It’s now common consensus amongst nations that climate change is one of this generations biggest concerns and brings with it many problems that encompass all areas of security, peace building, and development.
According to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), human-caused global warming is driving climate changes impacting both human and natural systems on all continents and across the oceans. Some of these impacts include the altering of ecosystems, threat to food production and water supplies due to extreme weather, and the dislocation of human communities due to sea level rise and other climate factors.
The changing climate is already affecting humanity and our economies in many ways such as:
1. Global temperature rise
2. Resource competition
3. Extreme weather events and disasters
4. Sea-level rise and coastal degradation
5. Food and water scarcity
These effects will increase as the climate continues to change, and the effects are expected to increase dramatically over the coming decades as poor enforcement of international treaties and conventions continue.
This calls for us to redevelop the concept of global security to include the protection of the environment as the effects of climate change can amplify existing stresses and vulnerabilities amongst communities leading to threats to security and an increase in the risk of violence and violent conflict.
International bodies like the UN Security Council must be at the forefront of this change. We can no longer leave our future to uncertainty. We need to act now more than ever.
