Author : Elizabeth Deheza
Release : 2011
Genre : Climatic changes
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : /5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Climate Change, Migration and Security by : Elizabeth Deheza

Download or read book Climate Change, Migration and Security written by Elizabeth Deheza. This book was released on 2011. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During this research project, it was important to emphasize the need to expand the definition of national security to encompass 'social and political stability'. In the absence of hostile foreign powers since the late 1960s, national security issues in Mexico have typically been associated with internal social and political turmoil, including some armed insurgencies in rural and urban areas and narco-trafficking in recent years, fitting with more traditional, narrow definitions of security focused on violence. In contrast, this report's expanded definition facilitates an exploration of the drivers of threats to national security stemming from outside the military sphere, for example, as a potential consequence of issues such as serious organized crime (SOC), resource scarcity, pandemic disease and, of course, climate change. As a result of the report's examination of the complex interactions between climate change and security, three conditions emerged as key in this region. First, climate change will impact people's ability to meet basic needs, especially those whose livelihoods depend on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture and fishing. Secondly, the impacts of climate change will not affect everyone equally, and this has the potential to exacerbate social divisions and tensions. The region is already characterized by significant social divisions and, as the impacts of climate change intensify, the potential for the formation of these divisions and polarizations increases - which, depending on how they are handled, could increase risks of instability. Thirdly, climate change will compound existing challenges around governance and institutional capacity - increasing demand for disaster response and recovery, and for the implementation of adaptive measures. Previous research has shown that migration is often thought of as the most likely, and potentially the most serious, consequence of climate change; it is this which provides the impetus for the current project to conduct a closer analysis of how climate change will impact migration and the possible implications for security. It is already known that, while climate change is not necessarily a direct cause of migration and related security challenges, it will have profound implications for the movement of peoples, both within and across national borders. It is from this premise and under the recommendation of paragraph 14(f) of the Cancun Agreements - to 'enhance understanding, co-ordination and co-operation with regard to climate change, induced displacement, migration and planned relocation' - that this report begins.