International Security Studies
theLonelyWolf
Lecture10-EnvironmentalSecurity.pptxEnvironmental Security
Week 10
The Environmental Security Agenda
Climate and Environmental Change
Increase in the number and ferocity of natural disasters
Global warming and rising sea levels
Disruption to ecosystems
Access to resources
Life
Economic
The Security Referents
The State
Economic, sovereign
Human beings (now and in the future)
Livelihood, food
Differential impact upon humans
Poor, conflict-affected, age, gender
Ecosystems
Climate, land, water, fauna and flora
Increase in natural disaster in Asia and the Pacific
The emergence of the Environmental Security agenda
The World Economic Forum’s “Evolving Risk Landscape”, identifying the top 5 global risks.
should the environment be a security issue?
Yes: Greening Security
‘Security’ has the resources to address environmental threat:
Money
Equipment/ Resources
Government focus
States could prompt global action:
State vs Civil Action
States (and their citizens) are under threat
should the environment be a security issue?
No: Securitizing the Environment
Removes focus from armed conflict
Non-traditional threat (Critical)
Enemy without a face
Intentions are different
No (always) an existential threat
Cannot be addressed through force or counter-attack
Security sector does not deal with this type of threat
The military is a major polluter,
not least of all through nuclear tests
Enter Realism: Securitising the Environment
| “The resulting economic decline leads to frustration, resentment, domestic unrest or even civil war. Human suffering and turmoil make countries ripe for authoritarian govts or external subversion.” Jessica Tuchman Matthews (1989) | “The pressure engendered by population growth in the Third World is bound to degrade the quality of life, and diminish the range of options available, to governments and persons in the rich countries.” Richard Ullman (1983) |
| “A deteriorating environment not only threatens public health, it impedes economic growth and can generate tensions that threaten international stability.” US National Security Strategy (1998) | “The political and strategic impact of surging populations, spreading disease, deforestation and soil erosion, water depletion, air pollution… overcrowded regions… will be the core foreign policy challenge from which most others will emanate.” Robert Kaplan (1994) |
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Environmental Conflict Thesis
Environmental Degradation + State Fragility + Social/ Community Fragility = Conflict
Conflict over Resources
Environmental Migration
climate Change and Conflict
Climate change exacerbates conflict
Conflict undermines climate resilience
Ongoing drought, food insecurity and economic downturns has weakened the state and fueled ongoing conflict in South Sudan
Conflict has profoundly undermined Bangladesh’s capacity for resilience to climate change in Cox’s Bazar
The Climate Emergency: Has climate change been securitized?
Yes?? – The Realist Framework
Focus upon threats to states;
Focus upon flash points and conflict;
A militarized response;
A creation of threats and enemies;
Protection of state interests.
Yes?? – The Liberal Framework
Focus upon the interconnected global threat;
Focus on prevention, mitigation, adaption
A collective, rules-based response;
A focus upon the science;
Protection of global interests.
The Liberal Approach: Global Governance
Challenges to the Liberal agenda
A trans-national & global challenge
statism vs porous borders
sovereignty vs community
self-help vs reliance
A future challenge
uncertainty
long-term consequences
3. A North-South Challenge
sustainable development Vs right to development
Common but differentiated responsibilities
movement of polluting industries to the global south
4. An overlapping challenge
trade & economics (market solutions)
social justice
peace, conflict and security
shared technology, R&D (air, wind, solar technology)
Top-down and bottom-up approaches
Top-down approaches
A focus upon states as the main referent for security
A focus upon states as the main providers of security
A focus upon geo-political patterns of environmental change (conflict, economies, regional impacts)
Bottom-up approaches
A focus upon the individual ‘victims’ of environmental change;
A claim that everyone contributes to security;
A focus upon how intersectional identity markers render some more vulnerable to climate change (region, SES, age, gender)
Feminist approaches: differential impacts
Gender roles and responsibilities shape men and women’s experiences in all areas of climate change
Gender inequality disadvantages (usually) women’s access to options, resources, support and decision-making
Gender inequality means women’s contributions to addressing climate change remain undervalued and overlooked
Across the developing world, women are overwhelmingly responsible for collecting water and firewood.
Case study on the gendered impacts of natural disasters
Mortality distribution by gender of selected natural disasters
Experiences can be heavily gendered:
Mortality rates
Displacement
Rebuilding
Post-disaster support (eg healthcare, employment)
Legal rights
Trafficking and prostitution
Gender-based violence
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States with high levels of gender inequality and state fragility/conflict will see very gendered impacts of disasters.
Typhoon Haiyan which hit the Philippines in November 2013 displaced more than 4 million people; The cost of rebuilding was estimated at 4.8billion. Five years on, there is still widespread homelessness, with women taking on significant and often invisible care work.
For example, after Hurricane Katrina in the US households headed by poor women in New Orleans were less likely to return to the city and rebuild than those headed by married couples, because these women had been unable to afford adequate home or renter’s insurance prior to the storm
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Women’s role in addressing climate change
Women’s customary knowledge of the environment
Women’s collective action – eg. Women’s weather watch, Fiji
Women’s absence in policy and planning
Inclusive approaches to policy design and implementation
Engaging with women’s community-based knowledge of the environment
Women’s localised knowledge of the environment – everything from seasonal patterns to adapting to changing environmental conditions – is often based upon generations of handed-down knowledge, and is shared throughout the community. This kind of knowledge, which is not technical or scientific in the way we understand it, has sustained communities for generations. But it is often not considered or sought in policy discussions. But it should be. Women’s cumulative, customary knowledge can powerfully complement and enhance technical information by revealing how, where and when multiple risks intersect.
Women’s participation in policy and planning provides locally-appropriate and sustainable approaches to climate policy.
FemLink Pacific’s Women’s Weather Watch, based in Fiji, is a radio program which provides a women to share knowledge, experiences, information and lessons learned in the preparation for, during and recovery from extreme weather events.
Women have developed a range of coping mechanisms and strategies that build household and community resilience to climate change. These may be simple things such as information sharing, approaches to storing and protecting resources in times of crisis, preparing for crisis to minimize impact, etc. However, there are a number of barriers to women’s participation including social and cultural norms, gendered divisions of labour and GBV, and access to resources.
3. Identifying and upscaling local women’s organising and collective action.
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Critical and postmodern approaches: Global resilience
Rethinking security’s referent:
Not the state, not humans, but the ecosystem;
Rethinking the discourse:
Not ‘man vs nature’
Rethinking our source of knowledge:
Placing customary knowledge alongside science.
Resisting security:
Security is not a helpful concept.
Indigenous landcare programs
operate throughout Australia
