Risky Business: Defining the Concept of Environmental Security

Abstract

The article discusses the way global environmental problems have been included in the concept of environmental security. The concept has been developed as an alternative to the traditional concept of security, which emphasizes the security of the state and the military means of securing it. The discussion on the concept of environmental security has concentrated on the unit of analysis: it has been suggested that an environmental component be included in the concept of national security, global security or societal security. However, the problem in the concept of environmental security is that the referent object of security, the environment, has not been given enough attention. The relationships between the man, the environment and globalization of environmental problems require more thorough study in order to develop the concept.

[Retracted] Securitization Concept and Its Application to Environmental Problems in the Kurdistan Region: Prospects and Obstacles

“…Problems in this sector could no longer be ignored, such as the “loss of biodiversity and habitat degradation of water and soil” [ 53 ]. Environmental issues slowly and increasingly gained ground in the second half of the twentieth century as a matter directly related to the sustainability of modern life [ 54 , 55 ]. In 1987, the United Nations General Assembly called this type of security “environmental security.” According to Ruth Noorduyn and Wouter T. de Groot [ 56 ], civil society groups began to focus on environmental issues, and this led to a general, revolutionary change in Europe in the late 20th century.…”

“…This can be anything important to the audience, or it can be the audience themselves, as in the case of environmental problems. It is important that the audience must be convinced that the action the securitizing actor intends to take is necessary to deal with the threat [ 55 , 58 – 60 ].…”

The triple layered business model canvas: A tool to design more sustainable business models

“…Organizations are expected to more actively address issues such as financial crises, economic and social inequalities, environmental events, material resource scarcity, energy demands and technological development as part of their focus. On the one hand, those challenges can be seen as an increase in risk (Tennberg, 1995;Paterson, 2001). On the other, those same challenges can be seen as opportunities for organizations to engage in sustainability-oriented innovation (Adams et al, 2015;Hart, 2005;McDonough and Braungart, 2002).…”

Resource concerns for territorial conflict

“…The concept of environmental security adopts a zero-sum perspective that states compete for access to resources. As a conceptual guide to research and policy, environmental security has come under considerable critique for promoting a limited view both of the environment and of security (Dalby, 1992(Dalby, , 1996(Dalby, , 2002Tennberg, 1995;Barnett, 2000Barnett, , 2001, for being unnecessarily state-centric and militarized (Deudney, 1991;Lipschutz and Conca, 1993;Deudney and Matthew, 1999;see also O'Lear, 2004), and for having little to offer in the way of theoretical robustness (Gleditsch, 2001).…”