Embargoed Access
The slippery slope of securitisation : climate change and the international law on the use of force
Loading...
Files
Embargoed until 2029
License
Access Rights
Cadmus Permanent Link
Full-text via DOI
ISBN
ISSN
Issue Date
Type of Publication
Keyword(s)
LC Subject Heading
Other Topic(s)
EUI Research Cluster(s)
Initial version
Published version
Succeeding version
Preceding version
Published version part
Earlier different version
Initial format
Author(s)
Citation
Florence : European University Institute, 2025
EUI; LAW; PhD Thesis
Cite
REETZ, Niklas Sebastian, The slippery slope of securitisation : climate change and the international law on the use of force, Florence : European University Institute, 2025, EUI, LAW, PhD Thesis - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/92806
Abstract
As climate change intensifies, its causes and consequences are increasingly framed as a concern of international peace and security. The thesis explores how the securitisation of climate change relates to the international legal framework governing the maintenance of peace and security. The security impact of climate change has repeatedly been put on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council, and the lawfulness of unilateral measures in response to climate harm is starting to be considered in academic debates. I analyse these developments through the lens of securitisation theory and further undertake a doctrinal assessment of the invoked scenarios, ranging from a determination of climate change as a threat to the peace and the authorisation of Chapter VII measures to the right to self-defence. The thesis demonstrates that climate change securitisation represents a broadening of issues viewed as concerns of international peace and security. In contrast, I argue that the governing rules of jus ad bellum are characterised by a narrow understanding of what the maintenance of peace and security entails. Equating climate change with more traditional threats to the peace challenges the systematicity of the legal framework. In light of this, the thesis develops two normative arguments. One, the legal system of peace and security depends on a coherent legal practice due to the interdependent relationship between its rules and the prohibition on the use of force. Two, subjecting broad concerns like climate change to the rules and institutional power structure of the peace and security system undermines the legitimacy and effectiveness of the system itself as well as cooperative efforts to limit global warming. While security responses to climate change promise symbolic benefits, these are outweighed by the downsides. Ultimately, the thesis counters the dominant view that the current law of jus ad bellum is sufficiently flexible to address broad concerns of international peace and security, such as climate change.
Table of Contents
Additional Information
Defence date: 03 June 2025
Examining Board: Prof. Neha Jain (European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Sergio Puig De La Parra (European University Institute); Prof. Dino Kritsiotis (University of Nottingham); Prof. Christina Voigt (University of Oslo)
Examining Board: Prof. Neha Jain (European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Sergio Puig De La Parra (European University Institute); Prof. Dino Kritsiotis (University of Nottingham); Prof. Christina Voigt (University of Oslo)