Climate change has been happening at an unprecedented rate over the last decade to become a major global concern. People’s livelihoods and wellbeing, global security, and climate are intricately intertwined, and affecting one of these factors has a ripple effect on the other. As such, climate change poses serious security concerns whether locally in New Zealand, regionally in Pacific Islands, or globally from the West to East and around the world.
Even in countries with minimal greenhouse emissions, the effects of climate change through global warming are felt in high proportions. The link between climate change and security, albeit indirect in most cases, are demonstrable and long-term (Barnett, 2003, p. 9). Climate change has climatic, environmental, and social effects and they all work together to affect security at different levels of society with both national and international implications. For instance, the climatic effects of this change include heat waves, floods, droughts, and irregular rainfalls, which in turn lead to environmental effects of unproductive lands contributing directly to social impacts, such as loss of livelihoods, scarce resources, malnutrition, climate migration, loss of jobs and disrupted learning programs (Scheffran & Battaglini, 2011, p. 29).
Ultimately, these social impacts of climate change result in security threats including human security challenges, health-related crises, competition for resources, clashes and violence, land disputes, and weak governance. This paper is an annotated bibliography of ten peer-reviewed sources explaining why environmental security is the biggest global security challenge. While the focus is on New Zealand, the effects of climate change are universal and the majority of points discussed here apply both locally and in the global context.
Adger, W. N., Arnell, N. W., Black, R., Dercon, S., Geddes, A., & Thomas, D. S. (2015). Focus on environmental risks and migration: Causes and consequences. Environmental Research Letters, 10(6), 1-7.
In this article, the authors discuss how migration, environmental risks, and climate change interact to pose security threats at different levels in a societal set-up. Change in the environment poses a wide array of risks to societies, such as disrupting economic and social systems, which potentially leads to migration as people adapt to the associated environmental and other related risks. Under normal circumstances, people migrate in search of better living conditions and livelihoods. However, climate change could lead to catastrophes, such as floods and other natural disasters, which could interfere with the mobility of individuals.
Ultimately, people are trapped in their localities, and in case of limited resources, as they compete for what is available, chaos and conflicts are likely to arise thus posing a major security threat. This paper will be used in the research paper because it directly addresses how climate change could potentially contribute to security threats, which is the major issue in the research project. On a scale of 10, with 10 being a strong credible article backed with verifiable evidence and 1 being a poorly written resource without evidence to support the claims made therein, this article would rank 9 because it is peer-reviewed with elaborate referencing of ideas from reputable sources. The authors are objective in their writing, which adds credibility to the article by avoiding subjectivity and personal opinions.
Barnett, J. (2003). Security and climate change. Global Environmental Change, 13(1), 7-17.
The author of this journal article seeks to explore the intricate connections between climate change and security. Barnett uses a heuristic guide to look at the available literature that assesses the many linkages between the problem of environmental change and security. For instance, the author indicates that a slight rise of sea levels by around 45 cm would imply that Bangladesh loses 10.9 percent of its territory. Consequently, 5.5 million people would be displaced and if such effects are replicated around the world whereby many small islands would be submerged, it means that millions of residents would be displaced.
As the affected individuals attempt to find safe places to live in a world with limited habitable spaces, humanity would be thrown into chaos by straining the available limited resources potentially leading to violent conflicts. The military and other security organs would be required to intervene under such circumstances. In other words, the environment fits into the war and peacekeeping narrative. The foregoing arguments underscore why climate change could be a major global security challenge. This article would be used in the research work as it addresses the main theme, which is the link between climate change and security in this context. This article would score 8/10 based on the strong academic evidence that the author uses to present his claims.
Barnett, J. (2007). Environmental security and peace. Journal of Human Security, 3(1), 4-16.
In this article, Barnett seeks to examine the link between environmental security and peace based on the available evidence, both in theory and in practice. The definition of peace in this context is the absence of both structural and direct violence. As such, the author starts by discussing how environmental change is directly connected with direct violence coupled with the ways it aggravates structural violence. The author then focuses on the various ways through which violence, whether direct or structural, contributes to environmental insecurity, thus creating a feedback loop whereby both security and climate change are connected with each feeding the other in a vicious cycle characterized by insecurity in society. The author concludes that neither environmental security nor peace could be achieved without the other.
In other words, lack of environmental security contributes directly to human insecurity in various ways including violent confrontations within and between states, especially due to limited resources to sustain human needs. This article is relevant to the research paper as it answers the question of why climate change could be one of the biggest global challenges for security by highlighting the strong links between environmental security and peace. The article would score 9/10 because it is peer-reviewed with reliable evidence backed with strong academic references from reputable sources.
Biswas, N. R. (2011). Is the environment a security threat? Environmental security beyond securitization. International Affairs Review, 20(1), 1-22.
In this article, Biswas argues that the environment is a key determinant of security by assessing the linkages among environment degradation, vulnerability, and the threat to life. Specifically, the author states that environmental changes directly contribute to insecurity at an individual level by affecting livelihoods and at the state level by promoting transnational crises between and within states and regions. For instance, prolonged environmental calamities could significantly slow down economic growth in a country, affect its social cohesion, and destabilize political structures. With reduced economic prospects, demographic displacements within and across states could occur, and such unprecedented movement of people across borders fuels political tension between neighboring states.
Additionally, people could change political affiliations within a state due to environmental stress leading to civil strife, political disorder, and insurgency. As such, these factors present environmental change as a leading contributor to the state of security within and between countries. This article would provide useful information for the research paper as it addresses the topic under discussion. The article would score 9/10, as it is scholarly with solid arguments supported with extensive referencing using credible sources. The article does not contain the author’s personal opinions; on the contrary, it is a well-researched paper written professionally to qualify as a credible and reliable source of relevant information.
Ferris, E. (2020). Research on climate change and migration where are we and where are we going? Migration Studies, 8(4), 612-625.
This peer-reviewed article focuses on climate-change-induced movement whether due to relocation, migration, or displacement. The author uses terminologies, such as climate change refugees and environmental migration to explore the various forms of mobility associated with climate change. The movement of people from one place to another whether within or across states due to the adverse effects of climate change comes with social, political, and economic implications especially to the areas receiving these new individuals. Ferris argues that while such migration patterns have some associated benefits, such as availing cheap labor, promoting diversity, and facilitating the transfer of technologies and knowledge, some security concerns are inherent in this phenomenon.
This article contributes to the research paper significantly by providing a framework through which some concepts, such as environmental refugees and climate change refugees could be understood and incorporated into the research paper. One consistent theme that has been arising in this topic is that migration caused by climate change is a major security threat at different levels in society. Therefore, this article lays the foundation to explore this issue further and discuss the intricate relationship between migration and insecurity. This article would score 9/10 for being written professionally using academic language with claims being backed with verifiable evidence from reputable sources including scholarly journal articles and books.
Huntjens, P., & Nachbar, K. (2015). Climate change as a threat multiplier for human disaster and conflict. The Hague Institute for Global Justice, 1-24.
According to this article, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) now recognizes climate change and its effects as a major source of security concerns at the global level. The authors discuss the link between climate change and security at two levels – the security of states, both nationally and internationally, and the security of people, which is the human aspect of it. The authors indicate that the security threats that climate change “poses are regarded primarily as threats to the state and its functions: its institutional capacity, territorial integrity and, ultimately, national sovereignty” (Huntjens& Nachbar, 2015, p. 1).
Additionally, climate change would threaten the existence of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which leads to the displacements of millions of people and this phenomenon has its underlying security concerns. Similarly, climate change multiplies security threats and significantly fuels violent conflict. Therefore, this article directly addresses the topic being discussed in the research project seeking to determine whether climate change is the greatest challenge for global security in modern times. In other words, the contents of this article are relevant to the research project under study. This article would score 9/10 because it provides credible and reliable information drawn from diverse peer-reviewed journal articles and reputable bodies, such as the UNDP, UNSC, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Scheffran, J., & Battaglini, A. (2011). Climate and conflicts: The security risks of global warming. Regional Environmental Change, 11(1), 27-39.
In this article, the authors provide an overview of the debate on the impacts of climate change on security by highlighting the potential security risks and conflicts using an assessment framework to identify the linkages among human security, climate stress, and societal impacts. The article addresses the major areas of conflict including environmental refugees, natural disasters, food security, land use, and water stress. The authors use specific examples, such as land-use conflicts in “Northern Africa; floods, sea-level rise and human security in Southern Asia; glacier melting and water insecurity in Central Asia and Latin America; water conflicts in the Middle East; climate security in the Mediterranean; and the potential impact on rich countries” (Scheffran & Battaglini, 2011, p. p. 27).
Ultimately, the article suggests some of the strategies and concepts that could be applied to minimize the security concerns associated with climate change by moving from conflict to collaboration in creating a robust climate policy. This article is thus relevant and applicable to the research project because it addresses the issue of climate change as a security threat in various ways. Therefore, it would support the thesis that climate change is one of the leading challenges facing global security. The article would score 9/10 as a peer-reviewed journal article with credible and reliable information drawn from reputable sources involving both primary and secondary research works.
Swain, A. (2015). Climate change: Threat to national security. In D. A. Bearfield & M. J. Dubnick (Eds.), Encyclopedia of public administration and public policy (3rd ed.) (pp. 577-580). CRC Press.
According to this book chapter, climate change is a significant contributor to insecurity associated with the availability of resources, such as water and food. For instance, climate change has contributed to the declining availability of such resources, which has led to the unprecedented movement of people from one place to another, thus presenting security threats in different ways. Additionally, climate change, according to the authors, climate change is a potential threat multiplier as it causes economic and political instability, especially in poor and developing countries with weak structures of governance. The extreme weather events associated with climate change negatively impact food production with increasing droughts and floods. The survival of human beings depends on the availability of food and its security and prolonged hunger could potentially disrupt social order making people ungovernable.
Similarly, mass translocation of people from one country to another induces various dimensions of conflict between the receiver and the sender nations. Therefore, this article has relevant information that is useful to the research project under study looking into the different ways in which climate change is a leading challenge of global security. This book chapter would score 9/10 as the information presented therein is objective, verifiable, and credible as it is being backed with reputable data from 26 references including books and peer-reviewed journal articles.
Trombetta, M. J. (2008). Environmental security and climate change: Analyzing the discourse. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 21(4), 585-602.
This peer-reviewed journal article focuses on analyzing the concept of climate security coupled with investigating how the link between climate change and security has revolutionized security practices. The author argues that environmental change leads to scarcity of resources, and this scenario could potentially induce conflicts in different aspects. In return, such conflicts transform the threat “to the environment and to the people that depend on it into a threat to global order and stability” (Trombetta, 2008, p. 593). Therefore, climate change and security threats are intertwined in a vicious cycle with each contributing significantly and directly to the existence of the other. According to the author, in 2004, David King, the then UK government’s chief scientific adviser, warned that climate change posed a more serious threat to humanity than terrorism.
This argument underscores the claim that climate change is the leading challenge to global security, and thus this article answers comprehensively the research question in the research project. The article has highly relevant information concerning this topic; hence, it will be useful when presenting arguments in support of the thesis statement drawn from the research question. This article would score 9/10 because as a peer-reviewed article, it contains credible information presented in a neutral tone characterized with objectivity as opposed to being the author’s opinions and unverified claims. Tens of reputable sources have been used to back the claims made in this article, which makes it reliable.
von Uexkull, N., & Buhaug, H. (2021). Security implications of climate change: A decade of scientific progress. Journal of Peace Research, 58(1), 3–17.
This article reviews the available literature using empirical research works that have been published over the last decade. According to von Uexkull and Buhaug (2021), the available literature on this topic jointly demonstrates significant climate impacts on “social unrest in urban settings; they point to the complexity of the climate–migration–unrest link; they identify how agricultural production patterns shape conflict risk; and they investigate understudied outcomes in relation to climate change, such as interstate claims and individual trust” (p. 3). In other words, researchers agree that climate change contributes directly to conflicts and other-related security threats.
The impacts of climate change on security follow both direct and indirect pathways. For instance, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has established that environmental hazards compound the problem of civil unrest in places that have been experiencing severe hunger crises. This paper adds valuable information to the research project being studied. As a literature review, the information contained in the various peer-reviewed sources included in the study sample is rich in useful content that supports the thesis that environmental security is one of the biggest global challenges for security. The article would score 9/10 given that it is a credible literature review focusing on over 100 empirical study sources giving reliable information on this topic.
Conclusion
The 10 sources selected for this annotated bibliography are useful for this project in various ways. First, they have given me a better understanding of the topic of my essay. Before conducting this exercise, my understanding of the intricate relationship between climate change, as a constituent of environmental security, and global security was limited. I could not understand how the two were related. However, after conducting this exercise, I now understand that the two issues are closely related, and they significantly contribute to the occurrence of one another. As such, this exercise has helped me in gaining more in-depth engagement with the underlying theory.
Concepts such as environmental refugees and climate change migration have consistently appeared in the majority of the articles and they explain how environmental changes affect the livelihoods of people in different parts of the world. Therefore, with this information, I can now draw a comprehensive outline for my essay because I have different subtopics on how environmental security is our biggest global challenge for security. Based on the information gathered, the scope of my research has broadened. Initially, I thought I would focus on how climate change impacts security, both nationally and internationally.
However, I have learned that security also contributes significantly to environmental problems. Therefore, the scope of this research has broadened to look at the issue of security and climate change from a two-way perspective whereby they both co-exist to advance one another. Now that I have researched and selected most of my references, I will start by creating an extended outline with detailed subtopics explaining what would be covered under every section. The recurring main issues associated with climate change and security matters are human, political, and economic. Therefore, I will have three major sections with each one explaining how climate change affects security based on the identified issues. I will have the following clear thesis statement, “Environmental security is our biggest global challenge for security” and provide sufficient evidence to support my claims.
References
Adger, W. N., Arnell, N. W., Black, R., Dercon, S., Geddes, A., & Thomas, D. S. (2015). Focus on environmental risks and migration: Causes and consequences. Environmental Research Letters, 10(6), 1-7.
Barnett, J. (2003). Security and climate change. Global Environmental Change, 13(1), 7-17.
Barnett, J. (2007). Environmental security and peace. Journal of Human Security, 3(1), 4-16.
Biswas, N. R. (2011). Is the environment a security threat? Environmental security beyond securitization. International Affairs Review, 20(1), 1-22.
Ferris, E. (2020). Research on climate change and migration where are we and where are we going?. Migration Studies, 8(4), 612-625.
Huntjens, P., & Nachbar, K. (2015). Climate change as a threat multiplier for human disaster and conflict. The Hague Institute for Global Justice, 1-24.
Scheffran, J., & Battaglini, A. (2011). Climate and conflicts: The security risks of global warming. Regional Environmental Change, 11(1), 27-39.
Swain, A. (2015). Climate change: Threat to national security. In D. A. Bearfield & M. J. Dubnick (Eds.), Encyclopedia of public administration and public policy (3rd ed.) (pp. 577-580). CRC Press.
Trombetta, M. J. (2008). Environmental security and climate change: Analysing the discourse. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 21(4), 585-602.
von Uexkull, N., & Buhaug, H. (2021). Security implications of climate change: A decade of scientific progress. Journal of Peace Research, 58(1), 3–17.