Climate Change as a Security Risk

Taylor & Francis

Climate Change as a Security RiskAuthor(s): Hans Joachim Schellnhuber\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd, United Kingdom\nImprint: Earthscan Ltd\nISBN-13: 9781844075362, 978-1844075362\nSynopsis\nWithout resolute counteraction, climate change will overstretch many societies' adaptive capacities within the coming decades. This could result in destabilization and violence, jeopardizing national and international security to a new degree. However, climate change could also unite the international community. This is provided that we recognize climate change as a threat to humankind and so set the course for adopting a dynamic and globally coordinated climate policy. If we fail to do so, climate change will draw ever-deeper lines of division and conflict in international relations, triggering numerous conflicts between and within countries over the distribution of resources - especially water and land, and over the management of migration, or over compensation payments.