Climate change as a human-security threat or a developmental issue? Implementing a catch-all concept

Abstract

Abstract This essay is a contribution to the discussion on human and non-traditional security (NTS) versus development by looking at the threat of climate change. There is overwhelming evidence that mankind's survival is at stake if collective action does not stop global warming. The UN Security Council (UNSC) discussed this threat in 2007. There are many ways in which climate change is threatening human security. However, the possible impacts are so varied and causal links to conflict are so difficult to establish that it is not logical to define climate change as an NTS on the basis of the nature of the threat only. A focus on the plausible sequence of threats and the means to deal with them at various points in time provides a more appropriate framework to understand that climate change is both a development issue and a human security threat. Climate change is an example of the development–security nexus and underlines the importance of using, in a coherent fashion and at various points in time, different and multilateral policy tools to tackle it. These instruments can range from typical development policy tools like Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the use of traditional security instruments, such as military force. Arguably, other threats could also be looked at from such a “threat sequencing” perspective. This approach thus allows for the explanation of relations between development, human security and traditional security and can be tested against other kinds of NTS.