Climate Change and Security
It is increasingly apparent that the effects of climate change will have salient security dimensions. Hurricane Katrina demonstrated the massive displacement of population that natural disaster could incur even in an advanced economy. In the developing world, the pressures of a changing environment such as drought, desertification and rising sea levels will pose significant challenges for both states and regions, as social, political and economic dynamics come under pressure. In worst-case scenarios, the effects of climate change are likely to induce violent conflict. Governments are thus faced with difficult choices as they struggle to maintain access to energy supplies but also seek to address their climatic effects.
RUSI has started an extensive programme of research and events to analyze these problems in detail and address the urgent issues facing policy-makers today.
Resource based conflicts are not new: they are literally as old as the hills. But in climate change we have a new and potentially disastrous dynamic.
Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP
Former Foreign Secretary
Speaking at RUSI
News and Analysis
RUSI Climate Security analysis
Arctic ice 'is at a tipping point'
BBC, 28 August
North Pole ice cap melting faster than ever
AFP, 28 August
Food riots as Indian floods destroy 250,000 homes
Reuters, 27 August
A push to increase icebreakers in the Arctic
NYT, 16 August
US military launches war on global warming
New Scientist, 8 August
Arctic maps shows dispute hotspots
BBC, 6 August
Climate war games: roleplay negotiations test the outcomes of global warming
Nature, 5 August
US Intelligence Community Grapples with Climate Change
World Politics Review, 30 July
Canadian Arctic sheds ice chunk
BBC, 30 July
Climate Change War Game 'In the Field' blog
Nature, 29 July
Arctic has 90bn barrels of crude
FT, 24 July
Arctic 'has 90bn barrels of oil'
BBC, 24 July
Climate campaigners threaten to invade and shut down power plant
Independent, 11 July
No ice at the North Pole
Independent, 27 June
North Pole could be ice-free this summer, scientists say
CNN, 27 June
Climate change may strain US forces
Reuters, 25 June
Intel Report Eyes Climate Change-Security Link
National Public Radio (US), 25 June
US National Intelligence Assessment of climate change to be released Wed 25 June
Wired, 23 June
Satellite for tracking sea levels set for launch
AFP, 19 June
Conflicts fuelled by climate change causing new refugee crisis, warns UN
Guardian, 17 June
Arctic thaw threatens Siberian permafrost
Independent, 14 June
Britain's climate target 'impossible'
Guardian, 9 June
Climate a war threat: NATO Secretary General
AFP, 4 June
FAO launches climate change website ahead of food security conference
FAO, 2 June
Nature loss 'to hurt global poor'
BBC, 29 May
Arctic claimants say they will obey UN rules
Reuters, 29 May
Spain's drought: a glimpse of our future?
Independent, 24 May
Google Earth releases animated climate change map
Reuters, 19 May
IPCC VP warns climate change will lead to 'barbarisation'
Guardian, 15 May
US navy stands by with Burma aid
FT, 6 May
Climate change: displacements set to increase
IPS, 28 April
US air force calls for mission to combat climate change
Guardian, 28 April
Solar power, weeds and algae to fuel armed forces of future
Times of London, 27 April
RUSI releases major climate security publication
RUSI, 23 April
'Tenfold R&D rise needed for climate change'
Telegraph, 23 April
Climate change could spark century long World War
Business Green, 23 April
Response to climate security threats 'slow and inadequate': RUSI report
AFP, 23 April
Climate change 'may put world at war'
Telegraph, 23 April
Security risk from climate underestimated - RUSI report
Reuters, 23 April
Climate and Security Research
Environmental Change and Security Program
Promotes dialogue on the connections among environmental, health, and population dynamics, and their links to conflict, human security, and foreign policy
Institute for Environmental Security
Linking environmental issues with military security and sustainable development
Environment, Conflict and Cooperation
Information clearinghouse on environmental security issues
Foundation for Environmental Security and Sustainability
Produce policy-oriented research on environment, stability and conflict
Global Environmental Change and Human Security (GECHS)
Research focusing on how environment interacts with other factors to impact human security
International Research Institute for Climate and Society
Focusing on the social impacts of climate change in Africa, Asia, and Latin America
Consortium of Non-Traditional Security Studies in Asia
Directed by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore
African Centre for Technology Studies
A science, technology, and environmental policy think-tank
Security Documents
Assessment of Select Climate Change Impacts on U.S. National Security
Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Colombia University
Delivering Climate Security: International Responses to a Climate Changed World
Nick Mabey, RUSI
Climate Change, National Security, and the Quadrennial Defense Review: Avoiding the Perfect Storm
John T. Ackerman, Strategic Studies Quarterly
An Uncertain Future: Law Enforcement, National Security and Climate Change
Oxford Research Group
Climate Change and National Security: An Agenda for Action
Council on Foreign Relations
A Climate of Conflict
International Alert
The Age of Consequences
Center for a New American Security and Center for Strategic and International Studies
World in Transition - Climate Change as a Security Risk
German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU)
National Security and the Threat of Climate Change
CNA Corporation
Strategic Trends 2007-2036
Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre (DCDC)
Audio, Video and Events Resources
The Malignant National Security Problem of Climate Change
28 June, 2008
World Bank Social Dimensions of Climate Change
5 March, 2008
NATO Security Science Forum on Environmental Security
12 March, 2008
Climate change will lead to more migration: UN Agencies
18 Feb, 2008
'Climate Change: The Next Global Security Threat'
Johan Eliasch at the Brookings Institute, Washington D.C.
31 January, 2008
Triangle Institute for Security Studies & US Army War College
Climate Change and Security Conference - videos
30-31 March, 2007
'Violence and Vulnerability'
This 22 minute documentary explores the link between conflict and climate stress in the Kitui District of Kenya
Environmental Change and Security Program - videos
Video of ECSP events, which focus on the connections among environmental, health, and population dynamics, and their links to conflict, human security, and foreign policy
Events
Upcoming
Climate Change: Preparing for the New Security Environment
RUSI
3 September
Africa Climate Change Forum
LSE, Republic of Rwanda
10-11 September
Copyright © 2008 RUSI