Strengthening Sovereignty: Security and Sustainability in an Era of Climate Change

Abstract

Using Pakistan and the Arctic as examples, this article examines security challenges arising from climate change. Pakistan is in crisis, and climate change, a transnational phenomenon perhaps better characterized as radical enviro-transformation, is an important reason. Its survival as a state may depend to great extent on how it responds to 2010's devastating floods. In the Arctic, the ice cap is melting faster than predicted, as temperatures there rise faster than in almost any other region. Unmanaged, a complex interplay of climate-related conditions, including large-scale "ecomigration", may turn resource competition into resource conflict. Radical enviro-transformation has repeatedly overborne the resilience of societies. War is not an inevitable by-product of such transformation, but in the 21st Century climate-related instability, from resource scarcity and "ecomigration", will likely create increasingly undesirable conditions of insecurity. Weak and failing states are one of today's greatest security challenges. The pace of radical enviro-transformation, unprecedented in human history, is accelerating, especially in the Arctic, where a new, open, rich, and accessible maritime environment is coming into being. The international community must work together to enhance security and stability, promote sustainability, and strengthen sovereignty. Radical enviro-transformation provides ample reason and plentiful opportunity for preventative, collaborative solutions focused broadly on adaptation to climate change, most particularly the effects of "ecomigration". Nations must work together across the whole of government and with all instruments of national power to create conditions for human transformation-social, political, and economic-to occur stably and sustainably, so as to avoid or lessen the prospects for and consequences of conflict. Collaborative international solutions to environmental issues, i.e., solutions that mobilize and share technology and resources, will build nations and build peace. The military, through "preventative engagement" will play a more and more important role. Further research and analysis is needed to determine what changes in law and policy OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2011, 3 1417 should be made to facilitate stable and secure "ecomigration" on an international scale, over a long timeline.

Institutionalization for good governance to reach sustainable health development: a framework analysis

“…Lastly, the institutional aspect shows the significance of democratic processes that include effective government, low corruption, and free information exchange [ 30 ]. A well-functioning government that operates democratically and effectively is best suited to cooperate with international partners to execute peace and sustainability projects due to its political legitimacy and capacity for institutional reform [ 35 ].…”

A co-designed heuristic guide for investigating the peace-sustainability nexus in the context of global change

“…Several factors frame the ability and willingness of institutions to advance peace and sustainability, and some of these were identified during the workshop. First, public support, or the lack thereof, that is sometimes translated into social movements, can hasten or hinder decision-making processes and the implementation of policies related to peace and sustainability (Jackson and Curry 2004 ; Parsons 2011 ; Pomeroy et al 2007 ). Second, community-based organizations can also complement the initiatives of formal and state-based institutions (Pomeroy et al 2007 ; Sharma et al 2007 ).…”

Diagnosis of the Livelihood Sustainability and Its Obstacle Factors for Poverty-Alleviation-Relocation Residents in Tourism Communities: Data from China

“…From the second half of the 19th century onward, scholars have investigated the passive relocation of people who live in inhospitable environments, thus defining them as ecological migrants [31][32][33]. The recent literature further examines the topic from various perspectives, including ecological-migration policy issues [32,34], political support for environmental refugees [35], and NGO assistance for urban environmental refugees [36]. Another strand of the literature has discussed the challenges of mass migration in view of governance capacity in migration sites [31], recurring political violence [37], and environmental disasters that lead to violent conflicts [38,39].…”