Security in the Context of Environmental Change: Splitting the Vistula Spit Canal

Sommer, Hanna; Zakrzewski, Grzegorz

doi:10.7862/rz.2021.hss.16

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 3 publications

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“…It was justified by Poland's need for independent access from the Vistula Lagoon to Gdańsk Bay, circumventing the existing Strait of Baltiysk controlled by Russia. To enable its construction, economic and ecological arguments were rendered secondary to national security (Sommer & Zakrzewski, 2021). The project, for which some 10,000 trees were felled, forged ahead chiefly for symbolic reasons despite environmental concerns, impacts on three protected areas, including a Natura 2000 site, and lack of EU approval (Reuters, 2019).…”

Section: Sovereigntymentioning

confidence: 99%

Threats to conservation from national security interests

Nowak,

Bear,

Dutta

et al. 2023

Conservation Biology

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There is a growing trend of nation states invoking national security and emergency declarations to build state‐sponsored infrastructure projects, most commonly for border defense, energy production and transportation. Established laws, regulations, and agreements for the protection of nature and cultural heritage within and between countries, are becoming secondary to national security, compromising the function of protected areas like national parks, wilderness areas, and biosphere reserves, which safeguard biodiversity, climate, and human health. We describe cases where decades‐long multinational cross‐border endangered species recovery and rewilding programs have been jeopardized by waivers of environmental protection laws to facilitate rapid construction of border barriers that impede the movement and migration of animals, such as at the U.S.‐Mexico and Poland‐Belarus borders. Renewable energy megaprojects, like the Pinacate solar plant in Mexico, coupled with power transmission lines and road networks, likewise cast a large footprint on the land and are being carried out with minimal to no environmental compliance under the guise of national security, while similar projects like Mexico's Dos Bocas refinery and Poland's Vistula Spit canal proclaim national sovereignty as justification for bypassing laws. Increasing military expenditure by the world's largest economies has also created a mismatch with improvement in environmental policy stringency. These decisions trivialize our dependence on functioning ecosystems, undermine democratic principles and environmental review protocols, and contradict the UN resolution on the human right to a healthy environment. Framing projects as national security also foments civil and political unrest by the labeling and casting of dissenters, such as conservation scientists and environmental defenders, as anti‐national. World leaders should refrain from misusing extraordinary powers, adhere to laws and international agreements, and consult experts and local people before taking unilateral action on projects that impact ecological and human communities.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

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Section: Sovereigntymentioning

confidence: 99%

Threats to conservation from national security interests

Nowak,

Bear,

Dutta

et al. 2023

Conservation Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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The Culture of the Co-Existence of a Planned Wind Farm in the Context of Environmental Changes

Sommer,

Zakrzewski

2023

Rocznik Bezpieczeństwa Morskiego

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Offshore wind power (OWP) as a renewable energy source (RES) is expected to have a significant share in the green energy market in the upcoming decades. Onshore energy generation is already a mature and proven technology, while its younger sibling is still in its infancy in the realities of our country. The development of OWP is a quantum leap towards using the natural energy potential of the Baltic Sea. It is supported by the government and is part of the country's energy transition plan. Experts make optimistic claims whereby the first energy from the Baltic Sea will flow into the national power grid in the middle of the next decade at the earliest. Economists and environmentalists agree that the development of energy technology in the Baltic Sea is an opportunity for the economy. It will be powered by another portion of clean energy. All parties claim that their primary task is to support environment protection from the point of view of sozology and avoid making a negative impact on the environment, including destructive events caused by natural forces and human activity, with considerations for socio-economic needs. The article contains the results of research conducted by the students of the University of Rzeszów as potential future consumers of electricity. They assessed the impact of OWP on Poland's energy security and ecological security through the lens of culture, manifested as the lack of excessive consumerism.

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Security in the Context of Environmental Change: Splitting the Vistula Spit Canal

Cited by 2 publications

References 3 publications

Threats to conservation from national security interests

Threats to conservation from national security interests

The Culture of the Co-Existence of a Planned Wind Farm in the Context of Environmental Changes

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