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RUSI Research
Climate Change and Security
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
It is increasingly apparent that the effects of climate change are going to 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's extensive programme of research analyses the problems of climate change in detail and addresses the urgent issues facing policy-makers today.