Climate Action as a Strategic Deterrent

Stability in emerging and developing regions is largely dependent on conditions that promote human security and economic opportunity. Nations that cannot provide human security and economic opportunity often culminate in fragile or failing states, such as in the Sahel. As a consequence of the role that the United States and its allies play in global governance, addressing fragile and failing states frequently becomes a matter of national security. One of the primary contributors to human insecurity is climate change, which manifests itself through a variety of social and economic challenges. Left unchecked, the cycle of climate change-induced insecurity in the developing world has the potential to create conditions of human insecurity, civil unrest, local conflict and – potentially – regional or international conflict. Accordingly, it is in the national security interest of the United States and its allies to use the full range of their national security instruments of power – diplomacy, development, information, military, and economy – to mitigate the potential for these destabilising events by investing in a comprehensive and coordinated climate action plan to reduce the propensity of these events in the first instance. It is a national security – and arguably a moral – imperative to deter conflict by aggressively pursuing climate action through development. Without a concerted and focused effort, there is no prospect of addressing the underlying climate change-induced causes of conflict that plague the developing world. In the 21st century, climate security and climate action can serve as a critical strategic deterrent to international conflict.