CIAO DATE: 7/00

Making Sense of Environmental Security

Abstract

The concept of environmental security — even after more than two decades of discussion — has no widely agreed-upon formulation. However, in the metaphor used by environmentalists, environmental security can be a "canary in the mine," signaling conflicts within nations and across borders. While environmental insults may foster violence, conflicts short of war also impose high costs, wreaking damage to economies, to societal stability, to the effectiveness of political institutions, and to international cooperation. Recent examples of such conflicts and their costs can be seen in locales as diverse as the Western Hemisphere and Southeast Asia (for example, in Guatemala, the Philippines, Colombia, Indonesia, and Nicaragua’s maritime and riparian disputes with Honduras and Costa Rica). This Agenda Paper argues that a practical approach to the linkages between environment and security can be taken through science-based case studies: by melding physical science with the discipline of political economy, specific risks to security, the economy, and society can be identified from local realities. More science-based demonstrations of the relevance of environmental security to sustainable growth and democratic progress are likely to be essential if Latin America and the Caribbean are to grapple successfully with the development challenges that confront them.

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