Climate change is an environmental, economic and social issue. Since the UN Security Council in 2007 it has been also identified as a concern for peace and security.
Climate change should be regarded as a threat multiplier while affecting key natural resources such as water, land, coastal areas and exacerbating conflicts. Contentions over natural resources, border disputes, environmentally induced-migration (due to further desertification, sea level rise, more extreme weather events), food scarcity and health diseases related to extreme events are a reality, and there are many concrete examples on security issues related to climate change: for instance, the management of the Jordan river basin is posed at risk by the negative effects of climate change on water stocks, while the inhabitants of South Pacific islands have become the first climate refugees.

Angela Liberatore – European Commission, DG RTD – highlights the most useful approach on addressing climate change impacts and security issues while envisioning some possible scenarios. Watch the video.

Read the full interview and watch the video on Climate Science and Policy, the magazine edited by CMCC.

Photo credits: CC DFID – UK Department for International Development @Flickr.com