Michael Brzoska

Climate Change and Violent Conflict

Current debates over the relation between climate change and conflict originate in a lack of data, as well as the complexity of pathways connecting the two phenomena.

One effect to rule them all? A comment on climate and conflict

A recent Climatic Change review article reports a remarkable convergence of scientific evidence for a link between climatic events and violent intergroup conflict, thus departing markedly from other contemporary assessments of the empirical literature. This commentary revisits the review in order to understand the discrepancy. We believe the origins of the disagreement can be traced back to the review article’s underlying quantitative meta-analysis, which suffers from shortcomings with respect to sample selection and analytical coherence. A modified assessment that addresses some of these problems suggests that scientific research on climate and conflict to date has produced mixed and inconclusive results.

Climate change, human security and violent conflict

Part I Introduction.- Part II Climate Change, Human Security, Societal Stability, and Violent Conflict: Empirical and Theoretical Linkages.- Part III Climate Change and the Securitization Discourse.- Part IV Climate Change and Migration.- Part V Climate Change and Security in the Middle East.- Part VI Climate Change and Security in Africa.- Part VII Climate Change and Security in Asia and the Pacific.- Part VIII Improving Climate Security: Cooperative Policies and Capacity-Building.- Part IX Conclusions and Outlook.- Abbreviations.- Biographies of Contributors.- Index.

Possible Implications of Climate Engineering for Peace and Security

What: An international group of scientists reviewed the potential consequences of climate engineering and provided a first mapping of the problem landscape, identifying knowledge gaps and emerging research questions. When: 10–11 November 2011 Where: Hamburg, Germany T here is a growing discussion about the intentional manipulation and control of the climate system—known as “geoengineering” or “climate engineering.” This is in part due to some scientists and political authorities considering geoengineering as a necessary “plan B” option for a “global last resort” to counter catastrophic climate change. While research on climate engineering is already attracting resources and interest, there is a lack of understanding of the potential consequences, in particular for peace and security. A workshop1 held at the University of Hamburg, Germany, in the fall of 2011 examined these issues to identify gaps in our understanding of geoengineering and to address emerging questions (the conference program is available at http://clisec.zmaw.de /Conference-program.1929.0.html). In the opening keynote speech, an overview of the different possibilities for geoengineering Earth’s climate generally identified two fundamental categories: carbon dioxide (CO2) removal (CDR) and solar radiation management (SRM). The overarching goal of all measures is to offset climate change. However, it was argued that geoengineering cannot replace mitigation and adaptation measures when it comes to dealing with climate change—hence, reduction of carbon dioxide emissions remains of utmost importance.

Frieden in verschiedenen Wissenschaftsdisziplinen

Die Arbeit am Frieden bewegt sich im Spannungsfeld von Macht, Herrschaft, Technologie, Recht, Moral und Religion. Der Beitrag zeichnet daher Entwicklungen des Friedensbegriffs in der Philosophie, der christlichen Theologie, dem Volkerrecht, der Wirtschaftswissenschaft, den Internationalen Beziehungen sowie den Naturwissenschaften nach und stellt Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede in den verschiedenen Wissenschaftsdisziplinen dar.

Conclusions and Outlook: Research Results and Research Needs

The authors of this volume argue that research into the effects of climate change on human security, on societal stability, and on violent conflict is still in its early stages. There is, as yet, little in terms of established knowledge beyond the generally accepted proposition that climate change, if extensive, will have major effects on people, societies, states, and the international system.