Climate change

Climate change is high on both domestic and international political agendas as countries face up to the huge environmental challenges the world now faces. Whilst this attention is welcome, less energy is being focused on the inevitable impact climate change will have on security issues. The well-documented physical effects of climate change will have knock-on socio-economic impacts, such as loss of infrastructure, resource scarcity and the mass displacement of peoples. These in turn could produce serious security consequences that will present new challenges to governments trying to maintain stability.

Climate Funding: Creating a Climate for Conflict? Insights from Nepal

Janani Vivekananda | Exclusively written for sustainablesecurity.org | October 2010

Issue:Climate change

Exclusively written for sustainablesecurity.org

During a recent field trip to mid-monsoon Nepal, stories of floods affecting vulnerable communities across the country dominated the  daily headlines. At the same time, international donors are pouring in funds in an attempt to help the vulnerable cope with the  impacts of climate change we are already feeling. Last week, the Adaptation Fund, a fund set up by the UN to help poor countries  cope with the impact of climate change, became operational. But are these funds helping – or are they contributing to the problem?

 

About the author: Janani Vivekananda is a senior advisor on climate change and security at international peacebuilding organisation International Alert.

Image Source: TheDreamSky

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Posted on 13/10/10

Weather as a Weapon: The troubling history of geoengineering so far.

James Rodger Fleming | www.slate.com | September 2010

Issues:Climate change, Global militarisation

Taken from the article:

Global climate engineering is untested and untestable, and dangerous beyond belief. The famous mathematician and computer pioneer John von Neumann warned against it in 1955. Responding to U.S. fantasies about weaponizing the weather and Soviet proposals to modify the Arctic and rehydrate Siberia, he expressed concern over "rather fantastic effects" on a scale difficult to imagine and impossible to predict. Tinkering with the Earth's heat budget or the atmosphere's general circulation, he claimed, "will merge each nation's affairs with those of every other more thoroughly than the threat of a nuclear or any other war may already have done." In his opinion, attempts at weather and climate control could disrupt natural and social relations and produce forms of warfare as yet unimagined. It could alter the entire globe and shatter the existing political order.

Article Source: Slate

Image Source: Klearchos Kapoutsis

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Posted on 5/10/10

Military Aviation and the Environment: Why the Military should care

Ian Shields | Exclusively written for sustainablesecurity.org | September 2010

Issues:Climate change, Competition over resources, Global militarisation

Ian Shields writes exclusively for sustainablesecurity.org:

"The impact of the civil airline industry on the environment is well documented, but what is less well considered is the impact of the military sector. This article will identify three key areas where military aviation has a major impact on the environment, and suggest mitigation policies for each: hydro-carbon use, ground contamination and noise."

About the author: Ian Shields is a retired, senior Air Force Officer and now a respected commentator on Defence and security matters, particularly with relation to Air and Space Power. He holds an MA from KCL, and MPhil from Cambridge and is presently undertaking a PhD in International Studies, also at Cambridge. He can be contacted via his web-site, www.ian-shields.co.uk

Image source: chanelcoco872

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Posted on 29/09/10

The Great Transition

Issues:Climate change, Competition over resources, Marginalisation

Humanity appears caught in a trap with no way out. ‘Business as usual’ is no longer an option. However, halting and reversing our consumption of more and more ‘stuff’ appears likely to trigger a massive depression with serious unemployment and poverty. This is certainly true if all we do is ‘apply the brakes’ without fundamentally redesigning the whole economic system.

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So what’s wrong with the MDGs?

Dan Smith | http://dansmithsblog.com/ | September 2010

Issues:Climate change, Competition over resources, Global militarisation

This week’s UN summit will call for a big renewed effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. But there are reasons for starting to think a bit further ahead. A new report from International Alert asks us to get ‘beyond the MDGs”.

At a launch meeting a couple of weeks back in London, the moderator - the BBC's Bridget Kendall - asked the report's lead author, Phil Vernon, "You clearly seem to have a problem with the MDGs - what's that about?

Article source: Dan Smith's blog 

Image source: Meanest Indian

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Posted on 22/09/10