Security Council Discussion of Climate Change Raises Concerns About "Securitization" of Environment

Once the focus of considerable skepticism, both climate change and the concept of environmental security have moved squarely into the mainstream. Not only has public awareness of climate change seemingly reached a tipping point, but the likely security repercussions of the unsettling changes to our planet’s climate are now increasingly acknowledged and analyzed. Recent reports such as the latest assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and last November’s Stern Review report on the economics of climate change have quickened the pace of the debate, as have events like the devastation of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina and the ongoing conflict in Darfur, Sudan, made worse by drought and desertification.

There is perhaps no better sign of this new realization than the recent decision of the United Nations Security Council to discuss, for the first time, the impacts of climate change on peace and security. Though a number of governments—including China and Russia—raised doubts whether the Council was the right forum to take up this issue, the meeting, held on April 17, represented a major milestone, with representatives of 55 nations in attendance.