Climate change, environmental violence and genocide

Abstract

Anthropogenic climate change is the most fundamental challenge for humankind in the twenty-first century. Rising sea levels and the loss of agricultural land, severe weather changes and desertification are just some of the likely consequences that will drastically alter the living conditions of millions of people, mainly in the global south. Environmental violence, including resource crises such as peak fossil fuel, should be of major concern to genocide studies. This article argues that environmental violence is amongst the main driving forces of collective violence and that climate change will dramatically increase the likelihood of genocide occurring in areas at risk. On this basis, the article criticises genocide prevention orthodoxy for its focus on humanitarian military intervention and asks for a new concept of sustainable prevention on the basis of global social justice.