GECHS » Publications

New volume in the Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace

Kirsten Ulsrud — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:02:18 +0000

GECHS associates Hans Günther Brauch and Úrsula Oswald Spring are the first and second editors of Volume IV in the Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace. The title of the new volume is “Facing Global Environmental Change – Environmental, Human, Energy, Food, Health and Water Security Concepts”.

This is a policy-focused, global and multidisciplinary security handbook which addresses new security threats of the 21^st century posed by climate change, desertification, water stress, population growth and urbanization. These are security dangers and concerns that lead to migration, crises and conflicts, and they are on the agenda of the UN, OECD, OSCE, NATO and EU.

The book analyses the global debate on environmental, human and gender, energy, food, livelihood, health and water security concepts and policy problems. They suggest a new research programme to move from knowledge to action, from reactive to proactive policies and to explore the opportunities of environmental cooperation for a new peace policy. For information on the whole Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace, please see the Springer Link website.

Turkish and Spanish editions in the Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace

Kirsten Ulsrud — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:52:14 +0000

Volume III in the Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace is now out in Turkish and Spanish editions. In this reference book on global security thinking, 92 authors from five continents and many disciplines, from science and practice, assess the global reconceptualization of security triggered by the end of the Cold War, globalization and manifold impacts of global environmental change in the early 21st century.

The book addresses the theoretical, philosophical, ethical and religious and spatial context of security and discusses the relationship between security, peace, development and environment. Furthermore, the book reviews the reconceptualization of security in philosophy, international law, economics and political science, the political, military, economic, social and environmental security dimension and the adaptation of the institutional security concepts of the UN, EU and NATO. The book also analyzes the reconceptualization of regional security and alternative security futures and draws conclusions for future research and action.

This book contains revised papers from three workshops at ISA ( Montreal), IPRA ( Sopron) and the Fourth Pan European Conference on International Relations (The Hague) and additional commissioned papers. Here, you can read more about the Spanish edition, and the Turkish edition.

A climate of conflict

Kirsten Ulsrud — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:00:00 +0000

The links between climate change, peace and war are analysed in the recent publication “A climate of conflict” from International Alert. International Alert is an independent peacebuilding organisation that has worked for over 20 years to lay the foundations for lasting peace and security in communities affected by violent conflict. In order to understand how the effects of climate change will interact with socio-economic and political problems in poorer countries, the report traces the “consequences of consequences”. This process highlights four key elements of risk – political instability, economic weakness, food insecurity and large-scale migration. Based on the analysis of these elements, the report points out twelve recommendations for addressing climate change in fragile states.

GECHS contribution in the new issue of IHDP Update

Kirsten Ulsrud — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:20:12 +0000

The title of the current IHDP Update is “The Implications of Global Environmental Change for Human Security in Coastal Urban Areas”. The issue is a joint effort by three IHDP core projects: Urbanization and Global Environmental Change (UGEC); Global Environmental Change and Human Security (GECHS); and Land-Ocean Interactions in Coastal Zones (LOICZ). It focuses on natural disasters associated with global environmental change in coastal urban areas and sheds light on the main pathways of social and urban vulnerability to natural disasters caused by climate variability and change. The invited authors explore the close links between global environmental change, human security, and urbanization from multidimensional perspectives seeking to provide integrated approaches to those complex interactions.

To subscribe to the newsletter, see the IHDP website under Publications.

Human Development Report 2007/2008

Kirsten Ulsrud — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 09:12:53 +0000

This years theme for the global Human Development Report is climate change, as the defining human development challenge of the 21st century. The report, “Fighting climate change: Human solidarity in a divided world”, states that failure to respond to that challenge will stall and then reverse international efforts to reduce poverty. And looking to the future, no country – however wealthy or powerful – will be immune to the impact of global warming. This Human Development Report argues that climate change poses challenges at many levels. In a divided but ecologically interdependent world, it challenges all people to reflect upon how we manage the environment of the one thing that we share in common: planet Earth. The report points out that climate change challenges us to reflect on social justice and human rights across countries and generations. It challenges political leaders and people in rich nations to acknowledge their historic responsibility for the problem, and to initiate deep and early cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Above all, it challenges the entire human community to undertake prompt and strong collective action based on shared values and a shared vision.

Policy note on climate and security

Lynn Rosentrater — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:12:27 +0000

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office has recently begun talking about the challenge of ‘climate security’, and former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has said that “Global climate change must take its place alongside the threats of conflict, poverty and the proliferation of deadly weapons that have traditionally monopolized first-order political attention”. Climate change poses clears risks to Australia’s interests in trade, aid and political stability in Asia. This not inconsiderable risk poses some complex challenges to Australian foreign policy. GECHS SSC member Jon Barnett has recently published a policy note exploring the risks climate change poses to security in Asia and the options for Australian foreign policy.

[Download PDF, 172 k]

Newsletter: Water and Human Security

Lynn Rosentrater — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 20:36:41 +0000

Issue 2 of the GECHS newsletter is now available for download. Contributors, writing on the topic of water, include:

Karen O’Brien on Understanding the Global Water Crisis
Lyla Mehta on Water Scarcity: Measuring the price of perception
Jinxia Wang, Jikun Huang and Scott Rozelle on Groundwater Challenges in Northern China
Kwasi Nsiah-Gyabaah Lessons from Ghana: Sustainable watershed management
Claudia Pahl-Wostl, Joyeeta Gupta, Nils Petter Gleditsch and Daniel Petry on Water Governance: Global Thinking in Bonn

Download the PDF [746k]

Report: Climate Change Adaptation and Poverty Reduction

Kirsten Ulsrud — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 12:14:44 +0000

GEHCS associate Siri Eriksen is the lead author of GECHS Report 2007:1 on climate change adaptation and poverty reduction, prepared for the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad). The report analyses interactions between poverty and climate change, and recommends measures for incorporating adaptation to climate change in poverty reduction efforts. The main message from the report is the urgency of integrating climate change considerations in all parts of development cooperation, not only in the environmental related activities. Development measures in all sectors influence the vulnerability to climate change of poor people, as well as their capacity to adapt to climatic changes.

A summary in Norwegian can be downloaded here, and paper copies of the report and the Norwegian summary can be provided from the GECHS IPO.

Water and human development

Kirsten Ulsrud — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 17:13:34 +0000

Lyla Mehta, GECHS SSC member, was one of the contributors to the Human Development Report 2006, and her background paper “Water and Human Development: Capabilities, Entitlements and Power” is now available online. The paper highlights how the multifaceted aspects of water are often neglected in official policy debates. It looks at a human development approach to water scarcity and asks what entitlements and capabilities would mean with respect to water. Efforts are made to explore the entitlements framework for both water as a basic need/right and for the wider and more productive uses of water.

Policy Note on Environmental Cooperation in Great Lakes Region, Nile Basin

Kirsten Ulsrud — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 16:41:02 +0000

Two policy briefs written by GECHS SSC member Patricia Kameri-Mbote are now available from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. In the newest brief of the Navigating Peace series of the Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP), Kameri-Mbote lays the historical foundation of water management in the Nile River Basin, and recommends policies for facilitating cooperation among the region’s many water users. In her second brief, published by the Africa Program, she argues that rather than being a source of competition, Africa’s dependence on natural resources can facilitate dialogue and provide a pathway to peacebuilding in the troubled Great Lakes Region.