CLIMATE CHANGE
AND (IN)SECURITY
AUTHOR Louise Selisny Senior Research Associate Climate Change & (In) Security Project* *a collaboration between the University of Oxford and CHACR. Louise will also be collaborating with the PIIRS Global Systemic Risk Research Community at Princeton University and is currently co-editing a book on climate and security for Routledge.
CHACR The Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research is the British Army’s think tank and tasked with enhancing the conceptual component of its fighting power. The views expressed in this In Depth Briefing are those of the author, and not of the CHACR or the British Army. The aim of the briefing is to provide a neutral platform for external researchers and experts to offer their views on critical issues.
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HE Ministry of Defence (MOD) has a clear Mission Statement: “We work for a secure and prosperous United Kingdom with global reach and influence. We will protect our people, territories, values and interests at home and overseas, through strong armed forces and in partnership with allies, to ensure our security, support our national interests, and safeguard our prosperity.” Working with this Mission Statement, the key priorities of the MOD are to: protect the UK; project the UK’s global influence; and promote UK prosperity.
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The military and civilian assets of the MOD deliver against these priorities in relation to context and resources. Climate is a fundamental context. Climate change limits resources. As such, the Ministry of Defence: Climate Change and Sustainability Strategic Approach states that “the UK Government will make tackling climate change and biodiversity loss its number one international priority”.
www.chacr.org.uk
Following Global Britain in a
Competitive Age: the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, development and Foreign Policy, the UK Government published a Defence Command Paper in March 2021. The paper states that the UK military must remain “persistently engaged globally” and regain a pro-active stance, in acknowledgement that the UK’s “approach to warfare has evolved relatively slowly in recent years, while our adversaries have invested in equipment and forces that expose our vulnerabilities”. The paper goes on to direct a focus for the UK that will see it emerging as a global leader in climate change security. This united front extended to the Defence Safety and Environment Committee, which reaffirmed that, “responding to climate security” is the primary objective. Highlighting the international military consensus, NATO defines climate change insecurity in strong terms, stating that: “The implications of climate change include drought, soil erosion and marine environmental degradation. These can lead to famine, floods, loss of land and livelihood, and have a disproportionate
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impact on women and girls as well as on poor, vulnerable or marginalized populations, as well as potentially exacerbate state fragility, fuel conflicts, and lead to displacement, migration, and human mobility, creating conditions that can be exploited by state and non-state actors that threaten or challenge the Alliance” (NATO, 2021). As regards defining security itself, the concept of ‘Human Security’, is used by a number of Western militaries, including the UK and the US. It is also used by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in order to integrate relevant socioeconomic and development factors into climate change security considerations (Adger, 2014). The ‘Human Security Approach’ of the UN presents five fundamental principles that should steer decision making. Security considerations should be: people-centred; comprehensive; context-specific; prevention-orientated; and facilitate protection and empowerment. One of the first commentators to
Picture: Sgt Dan Bardsley, Crown Copyright
IN-DEPTH BRIEFING // #38 // OCTOBER 22