Securitising climate change : can the UN Security Council reinforce the Paris Agreement given its inherent positive and negative attributes?

Abstract

There is virtually no doubt that climate change poses a security risk for many, if not all, regions, and peoples of the planet. This scope makes it precisely the type of threat the UN Security Council (UNSC) should be addressing. The pertinent question is, do we want the UNSC as it is currently constituted, to tackle climate change? It is an institution with vestiges of a hegemonic world order that empowers five states above all others. It is also politically fragile, influenced by national policies that can cause it to become gridlocked. Yet, it has some important successes, notably in the areas of terrorism and the proliferation of WMDs, both of which were handled as security threats in a pre-emptive manner. Thus, the UNSC has been situated as a potential means in which to galvanise the international climate response – which is found in the Paris Agreement and should not be afforded much success when measured against the continued increase in global emissions. This paper seeks to evaluate what promise, or peril, the UNSC offers through the securitisation of climate change.