Saghir Iqbal

Environmental Security Saghir Iqbal

The concept of environmental security was introduced in an attempt to expand this conceptualization of security by suggesting that human-induced environmental degradation and demographic pressures are new emerging security problems at the national and international levels. The argument for an environmental security perspective arose from three key observations: environmental threats can have catastrophic outcomes, traditional security thinking does not prepare society to deal with these threats, and, unlike traditional security issues, environmental threats are not confined by national boundaries. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), states that, "Over the last 60 years, at least 40 percent of all internal conflicts have been linked to the exploitation of natural resources". In addition, "More than two billion people have been affected by disasters and conflicts since 2000". Common examples of these new threats are climate change and sea level rise, ozone depletion, deforestation, land degradation; over fishing, fresh water scarcity, and increased spread of infectious diseases.