Small Island Developing States and climate securitisation in international politics: Towards a comprehensive conception

Abstract

This article focuses on the engagement of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the climate security debate launched by the United Nations Security Council. It aims to show how SIDS’ engagement in the Security Council debate can provide an innovative approach to explain and overcome some of the conceptual and policy challenges for climate securitisation at the international level. Big and small actors in the climate security debate have formed multiple perceptions about threats and solutions concerning climate security. Military-based framings of security have taken a dominant place in the Security Council debate; this has created challenges for security actors seeking to include multiple threat factors related to climate change in the security space. SIDS have illustrated the challenges in highlighting the diverse range of vulnerabilities, impacts, and solutions uniquely inherent to many security speakers and audiences involved in the climate security debate. Using a qualitative analysis of constructivist literature on securitisation, this article develops a conceptual framework to help incorporate SIDS’ broader aspects of climate security into the securitising move at the international level. It asserts that SIDS make a compelling case to explain the impacts of multilevel threat factors and security provisions on climate security formation.