Security Risks of Environmental Crises: Environment of Peace Part 2

Human and hard security in the Arctic Emerging evidence of the effects of climate change on the global environment has underscored the fact that the polar regions are bearing the brunt of changes in temperature and weather patterns.58 Ice erosion, warmer conditions, weather extremes, wildfires, and physical and biological changes are being observed with greater regularity at both poles, but in the. [...] For example, the prospect of extracting fossil fuels in the Arctic became attractive in the years leading up to the drop in global fuel prices in 2014.68 In particular, Moscow has placed an onus on developing oil and gas in the Russian Far East and Siberia in the hopes of reviving the country’s financial fortunes, despite ongoing economic pressure from the West. [...] These include the melting of sea ice and the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets; changes in ocean and atmospheric circulation; and loss or alteration of critical biomes, such as the large forests in the Amazon and Congo Basin regions and boreal forests in Russia and Canada.207 Many of these regions and processes are changing rapidly due to human pressures, for example through deforestation induced. [...] The gap between the nature of the challenges we face and the governance tools at our disposal This report has considered three ways in which we can make sense of the relationships between climate change and other environmental crises on the one hand, and peace, conflict and human security on the other. [...] The African Union’s Peace and Security Council has met several times, including at head of state level, to address the impact of climate change on peace, security and stability.305 Similarly, a number of other regional organizations—including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the EU and the Pacific Islands Forum—have recognized the.