Second Al-Moumin Distinguished Lecture on Environmental Peacebuilding: Jon Barnett

Oct 8, 2014 | American University, ELI, and UNEP
American University, Washington, DC

Professor Jon Barnett delivered the Second Al-Moumin Distinguished Lecture on Environmental Peacebuilding, on the topic “Climate Change and Security: From Vicious to Virtuous Cycles.”

There is pessimism about the effects of climate change on security. The dominant understanding is one of climate change amplifying insecurities through a range of pathways, with negative feedbacks in social and environmental systems causing a spiralling of violence in vulnerable regions, and a more dangerous international security environment. This vision of the future is a mix of imagination and evidence; and. By the same token, there are equally valid reasons to imagine a future in which, despite climate change, the world becomes more peaceful and prosperous. This lecture examines the evidence regarding climate change and security. It argues that while there is some evidence to support the dominant understanding of climate change as a risk to security, there is also evidence to suppose that these risks can be managed. It then reassembles the evidence into a different future, in which careful actions can promote human, national, and climate security.

Jon Barnett is a Professor of Resource Management and Geography at Melbourne University; a Lead Author for the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; and co-editor of Global Environmental Change.

A video of the lecture is now available online from Environmental Peacebuilding. An alternate video of the lecture is available from American University.

The Al-Moumin Distinguished Lecture Series is part of a broader effort by the Environmental Law Institute, UN Environment Programme, American University, and other institutions to foster analysis and dialogue regarding the connections between conflict, peace, and the environment.