Why Has Sea Level Rise Not Been Securitized by the PLA?

Jul 31, 2015 | Wilson VornDick
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Ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which is set to take place in Paris later this year, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang recently announced plans for China to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change, making it one of the boldest moves yet by the world’s leading emitter (State Council June 30; NDRC June 30). In May, U.S. President Barack Obama issued a stern warning about the increasing looming danger of global instability and conflict as a consequence of sea level rise (SLR), during his commencement address to graduating cadets at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (White House, May 20). The President’s remarks were based on findings by the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which predicted that global temperatures will continually increase between 2.0 degrees and 11.5 degrees Fahrenheit. According to the IPCC’s report, the rise in temperature may result in three to six feet of SLR by the end of this century. [1] As the sea level rises in the future, China and more than 150 other littoral countries in the world will be catastrophically affected.