legacy of conflict undermines livelihood restoration and ability to adapt to climate change

1. Emerging Environmental Security Issues • legacy of conflict undermines livelihood restoration and ability to adapt to climate change • increasing hazardous waste • climate change (water and food insecurity, natural disasters, forced migration) • population growth & living standard (by 2050 human demand = 2 planets) • poverty and social insecurity • national instability (fight for sovereignty) • growing resentment and distrust in industrialized world because of inaction on climate change & environmental pollution • militarization of strategic natural resources • emergence and convergence of technology (NBIC/BANG) • new weapons and weaponizable technologies • outerspace debris

2. + Climate change Political situation State of security Natural disasters Rising sea levels Warming Desertification Ecological damage Water/Food scarcity Highly populated coastal area Overstating Climate Change

3. No Agreement on the Arctic Yet 1.2 mill square km (c) BBC

4. Areas of Disagreement • access to the polar regions, off-coast resources, and their use • enforcement of MEAs • monitoring systems and models • security implications of environmental aspects • biodiversity protection • synthetic biology and nanotech safety strategies • implications of new weapons technology • nuclear non-proliferation • climate change and post-Kyoto strategy • outer-space security

5. Recent Environmental Agreements • Convention on Cluster Munitions opened for signature in December 2008 • European Parliament Resolution for Global Ban of DU Weapons • Biological Weapons Convention enforcement (biosecurity, codes of conduct) • Chemical Weapons Convention (use by nonstate actors; destruction deadlines) • E-waste Declaration for Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal • Stockholm Convention on POPs expanded with new chemicals, adopted evaluation mechanisms, compliance mechanism expected for 2011 • network of marine protection areas, to be adopted by 2012 • global ban on some heavy metals (in negotiation) • mandatory emissions targets at country, regional, local levels

6. Trends • increased protection of the environment and “common spaces” • adoption of precautionary principle versus reactive actions • expansion of polluter pays principle, and environmental liability and redress actions • international negotiations focus on enforcing MEAs, more synergistic environmental policy; simpler and clearer frameworks, and training • improving environmental governance and enforcement (UNEO) • international “coalitions of the willing” negotiating international treaties • “competition” for local environmental, energy, and emissions reduction strategies • increased participation of civil society in the design of policies • alliances between private companies, govs, NGOs and IOs to increase eco-efficiency • improving analytical tools for environmental assessment • new watchdog bodies • sovereignty vs human rights and environmental security • environmental diplomacy for conflict prevention