J Ö N K Ö P I N G I NTERNATIONAL B U S I N E S S S CHOOL JÖNKÖPING UNIVERSITY Environmental Security A conceptual investigating study Master thesis in Political Science Author: Elin Sporring Jonsson Tutor: Mikael Sandberg Jönköping 2009 Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to explore the concept of environmental security. A concept that have made way on to the international arena since the end of the Cold War, and have become of more importance since the 1990’s. The discussion regarding man-made environmental change and its possible impacts on the world is very topical; especially with the Nobel Peace Prize winners in 2007 the Intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) and Al Gore. The concept of environmental security is examined through a conceptual investigating study. The reason for this type of study is due to the complexity of the concept and a hope to find a ‘best’ definition to it. A conceptual investigating study is said to help create order in an existing discussion of a social problem, hence the reason for it in this thesis. The outcome of this thesis is that it is near impossible to find a ‘best’ or one definition to the concept of environmental security and that another method to deal with the concept might have presented another result. Keywords: Environmental Security, Conceptual Investigating Study, Environmental degradation i Sammanfattning Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka konceptet environmental security. Detta koncept har gjort sin väg till ett internationellt erkännande sedan Kalla kriget, och har sedan 1990-talet blivit allt mer aktuellt. Diskussionen gällande människans inverkan på klimatförändringarna och klimathotet är ständigt aktuellt, i synnerhet med tanke på vinnarna av Nobels Freds Pris 2007, med Al Gore i spetsen. Konceptet environmental security är i denna uppsats undersökt genom en begreppsutredande studie. Anledningen till denna typ av studie är att konceptet är såpass komplext men även baserat på hoppet av att hitta en ’bästa’ möjliga definition. Begreppsutredande studier sägs kunna skapa ordning i en existerande diskussion vilket kan ses som den främsta anledningen valet av den i denna uppsats. Resultatet av studien och denna uppsats är att det är i stort sett omöjligt att etablera en bästa definition av begreppet environmental security, samt att en annan metod förmodligen hade presenterat ett annat resultat. Nyckelord: Environmental Security, Begreppsutredande studie, Klimathotet ii “The environmental threats facing the planet are not simply the result of scientific miscalculations. Nor are they merely the consequence of ill-conceived management decisions. Ironically, it is the notion of security upon which our entire modern worldview is based that has led us to the verge of ecocide... In less than a century the practice of geopolitics has pushed the world to the brink of both nuclear Armageddon and environmental catastrophe, forcing us to reconsider the basic assumptions of security that animate the modern worldview.” Jeremy Rifkin, Biospheric Politics (Dalby 2002, p.1) iii Table of Contents Abstract ...........................................................................................i Sammanfattning............................................................................. ii 1 Introduction .............................................................................. 1 1.1 Problem Formulation and Purpose.........................................................2 2 Method ...................................................................................... 3 2.1 Previous Conceptual Investigating Studies ............................................3 2.2 Literature Selection, Critics, and Material ...............................................4 2.3 Delimitations...........................................................................................6 2.4 Structure of the Thesis ...........................................................................6 3 Historical Background to the Concept of Environmental Security................................................................. 7 4 Security..................................................................................... 9 4.1 Referent Object of Security ..................................................................10 4.2 Security Concept and the Environment ................................................11 5 Different approaches to the Concept of Environmental Security......................................................................................... 12 5.1 Insecurity and Human Security.............................................................13 5.2 Securitisation and the Copenhagen School..........................................14 5.3 Differences and similarities between Copenhagen School and Human Security Approach ................................................................................15 6 Environmental Change and its Impacts................................ 17 6.1 Environmental Degradation and Violent Conflict ..................................17 6.2 Environmental Change and National Security ......................................21 6.3 Armed Forces and the Environment.....................................................24 6.4 Summary ..............................................................................................25 7 Analysis .................................................................................. 26 8 Conclusion.............................................................................. 29 References ................................................................................... 31 Articles .............................................................................................................32 Internet Sources................................................................................................32 iv 1 Introduction Since the end of the Cold War we have seen a variety of changes in the world we live in. The ending of the Cold War put an end to the ‘balance of power’ between the US and the Soviet Union and made way for a new concept of security. In the wake of these troubled times, with a constant fear of nuclear wars and power struggle between the US and in the Soviet Union, a number of scholars started questioning and debating parts of the international relations theory. Even if the environment always has had impact on our everyday lives, it is since the end of the end of the Cold War we see environmental concerns to be an important part of discussions regarding global security. That is, at least with regards to North America and Europe (Dalby 2002, p. xix). The possibility for warfare over access to scarce resources and intact environments makes way for discussions regarding the global security and has caused a considerable amount of research and much public discussion. (Dalby 2002, p. xix) Recall the Nobel Peace Prize winners from 2007, the Intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) and Al Gore, “…for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change” (Norwegian Nobel Committee). A broadening of the security agenda that we have seen in the post-cold war era, have introduced numerous non-traditional threats to security. Among these threats we could mention: drugs, diseases (HIV/aids), and failed states. The environment was the major single theme to affect the broadening, and that got the greatest attention and produced the most intense political discussion at least during the 1990’s. (Dalby 2002, p. xx) This should however not be seen as an ignorant attempt to belittle the importance that war on terror and terrorism might have had since the 9/11 attacks on World Trade Centre in New York 2001. However large the impact the concept environmental security has had over the past decades it has rarely been questioned. Whether the questioning of the concept have been regarding the connections between environmental change and conflict, or resource scarcity and conflict between states is not clear. Therefore it becomes of importance to explore what environmental security implies and stands for. 1 1.1 Problem Formulation and Purpose There have been several attempts to measure the extent to which environmental change causes violent conflicts within and between countries, and there are explanations of the ways in which environmental change could perhaps undermine national security. Moreover there have been investigations of the ways in which war and preparations for war effect the environment, and there also exists a growing body of research that investigates linkages between environmental security and development issues like poverty or human security (Collins 2006, p. 183). Specific questions this thesis will answer: - What is the definition of environmental security? (Is there one?) - Does environmental scarcity and change cause conflict between countries? These questions might seem too simplified, but it is not that easy, due to the complexity of the concept. The theme of this thesis is also to see if by using a conceptual investigating study a ‘best’ definition of the term exists. It is in that sense the questions serve their main purpose. Therefore in a way an additional question will be: - Does a conceptual investigating study succeed at determining a ‘best’ definition of environmental security? There are also other questions the thesis will tackle, but these are not to be addressed directly. The case