European Perception of Climate Change as a Security Issue

Abstract

Climate change was identified as a security threat already in the 1980s but it ensured its place on global security agenda over twenty years later. The inclusion of climate change in a UN Security Council debate in 2007 is considered a turning point in its acknowledgement as a security issue (Trombetta 2008; Rodrigues de Brito 2012; Dalby 2013; Warner and Boas 2019), and from 2008 it has been considered a high politics issue in the EU (Dupont 2019). The number of natural disasters related to climate change have tripled since 1960 (Meyer et al 2021). Climate change is considered a top global risk and a multiplier of climate-related threats. Unlike many other threats, climate change can be measured and its effects assessed through scientific methods. In addition to direct risks, climate change also has a role in amplifying risks in causal connection to it, such as forced migration and violent conflict. (Meyer et al 2021) It is increasingly clear that the risks are varied and a concern to several areas of human life. Climate change and its security effects have been analyzed in the securitization framework (Warner and Boas 2019; Dupont 2019) but there is still room for further investigation on the public perception of climate change as a security issue. This essay will consider the changing perceptions of climate change as a security issue particularly in the European context.