Environment of Risk: Security in a New Era of Risk

It catalysed the formation of the UN Environment Programme and We can draw hope the establishment of environment ministries in governments across from the examples the world. [...] SECURITY IN A NEW ERA OF RISK 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Behind the headlines of war in Europe and the aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic, our world is being drawn into a black hole of deepening twin crises in security and the environment. [...] Between 2010 and 2020, the number nearly doubled (to 56), as did the number of conflict deaths.6,* This doubling can also be seen in the numbers of refugees and other forcibly displaced people, which rose from 41 million in 2010 to 82.4 million in 2020.7 The overall trend is unmistakeable: the world is becoming * These deaths are largely due to the less safe and secure for a large proportion of it. [...] Among the 18 ecosystem services identified by the UN are regulation of air and water quality, regulation of the climate, formation and maintenance of soil, and pollination.49 For many peoples across the Earth, nature is also the foundation of culture and identity. [...] 55 Plastic has spread to the highest and lowest points on the Earth’s surface, from the yield of major the top of Mount Everest to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.56 Pollutants such as mercury and toxic pesticides are found even crops such as maize, in the Arctic, both on the surface of the ice and in the bodies rice and wheat, and of animals.57 This ubiquity means that many pollutants are found.