Converging Crises in North Korea: Security, Stability & Climate Change
Publisher: Woodwell Climate Research Center, Converging Risks Lab, and Council on Strategic Risks
Author(s): Catherine Dill, Alexandra Naegele, Natalie Baillargeon, Monica Caparas, Dominick Dusseau, Madeleine Holland, and Christopher Schwalm
Date: 2021
Topics: Climate Change, Disasters, Governance
Countries: North Korea
North Korea’s provocative posture and its nuclear arsenal have shielded it from much of the pressures of globalization and integration with the international community. But neither politics nor arms can defend it from climate change. Impending climate impacts threaten to exacerbate North Korea’s already precarious ability to provide public goods for its population and thus maintain regime stability, multiplying risk factors for the Korean peninsula and the entire region.
Just as unanticipated climate change is a threat multiplier, recognized climate impacts could generate new avenues of negotiation and cooperation. Opportunity lies in understanding and mapping the climate impacts that North Korea will face in the coming decades, and supporting global and regional initiatives to increase climate resiliency in the country. This first-of-its-kind analysis lays the foundation for developing future strategies for climate mitigation and adaptation as a means to increase overall stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region.