Posted:
09/04/2017
Read and comment on the workshop report here belowWorkshop report :The degradation of the environment is expected to continue at a relatively high pace in parallel with industrialization and urbanization. Societies adaptation to the new environment has a significant cost.Key InsightsDifficulty to predict where climate change related disasters will hit Consequences are exponentialNATO plays an increasing role in responding to environmentaldisasters and in addressing their causes.Global warming is a long-term phenomenon difficult to address for political and economic reasons. It is clear that it will generate more frequent natural disasters and of greater magnitude. The phenomenon seems inevitable but the extent of its environmental impact, health and economic policy will probably depend on the mobilization at the international level. These issues remain highly politicized and sources of crises, particularly between developed and developing countries. Under the combined effect of the increasing demand and environmental degradation, access to natural resources will be a major challenges facing humanity. The inability of states to cope with a situation that endangers the survival of the human species needs awareness at the individual, national or even international level that could lead to an emergence of a new kind of citizenship and new forms of global governance. The consequences of climate change are: Environmental (degradation of arable area, deforestation, increasing of sea water level...) Economic (resource scarcity, food prizes, reduction of cultivable areas...) Health (pollution peak, natural disasters, spread of diseases...) Strategic (competition for rare earth elements, migration, opening of new trade routes...)In the long term, climate change and its consequences on environment could lead to three types of threats to the stability of the world: 嫉 Internal riots (like the 2008 food riots) 嫉 Tensions related to the appropriation of resources 嫉 Direct confrontations between states. Societies will have to adapt the consequences of environmental change. The cost for it will be significant but unequally distributed. It is expected that the poor, areas and populations, will be the more challenged. This will also require an adaptation of military assets. It is expected that NATO would play an increasing role in response to environmental disasters and their causes.The opinions expressed in this forum don't constitute NATO or any other organization points of view.