Responses to Climate-Related Security Risks: Regional Organizations in Asia and Africa
Publisher: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Author(s): Florian Krampe, Roberta Scassa, and Giovanni Mitrotta
Date: 2018
Topics: Climate Change, Governance, Peace and Security Operations, Programming
The transnational character of climate-related security risks often goes beyond the capacity of national governments to respond adequately. As such, it both creates challenges for and increases the relevance of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs). It is, therefore, not only important to understand the climate-related security risks that regions are experiencing but also to analyse how regional IGOs are developing their capacities to deal with these risks. This SIPRI Insights presents the findings of an analysis of four regional IGOs: two in Asia, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC); and two in Africa, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). These IGOs were selected because of their significance as regional institutional actors in some of the world’s most fragile and climate-vulnerable areas.
As well as being transnational, climate-related security risks are also multidimensional, meaning that these risks span different security sectors, such as economic, political, military and, of course, environmental security. As climate change creates new challenges for regional organizations, it simultaneously increases their relevance. Indeed, previous research suggests that regional and global IGOs are becoming more involved in the work to mitigate and adapt to climate-related security risks in different parts of the world. In order to explore the organizational responses of the four selected regional IGOs, this paper uses a comprehensive security lens that accounts for the transnational and multidimensional character of climate related security risks. The analysis specifically explores three aspects relevant to understanding the response to climate-related security risks: (a) how climate security has emerged within each organization; (b) the framing and discourse of climate security, that it, how is it conceptualized and what areas are in focus; and (c) what actions and measures are being taken in order to respond.