Climate Change and Risk. Securitization and Emergency in Global Governance

Dossier / Travail , 2014 , 10 Pages , Note: 2,0

Politique - Politique climatique et environnementale

“Climate change in IPCC usage refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g. using statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. It refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity.” When such a change was seen in the past as a purely natural event, humankind now recognizes its own influence on the Earth’s ecosystem. Since the 1970s academics and scientists are warning of a Global Warming caused by human activities by several publications like The Limits to Growth (1972). The issue became ultimately the public attention with the release of former US Presidential Candidate Al Gore’s movie “An Inconvenient Truth” honored with an Academy Award in 2006 and the winning of the Nobel Peace prize by IPCC and Al Gore. For the matter of easy understanding I will put Climate Change synonymous to the recent phenomenon of Global Warming. Being a huge challenge for humankind there is a lively debate about the way facing it, mainly in which category of the trilogy politicization, securitization and riskification it falls. For such a categorization it is important to ask for the nature of Global Warming, so whether it is or should be treated as a political issue, a threat or a risk. Is climate change thus governed as a threat or a risk? Can we witness a successful securitization? Or is it more convenient to classify Climate Change into the concept of riskification? After providing the reader with each conceptual framework, I will challenge the theories with the issues of Climate Change. But first and foremost it will be needed to explain the relevance of Climate Change as an issue within security studies.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• 1,Introduction
• Climate Change as a security issue
• The conceptual framework of securitization
• Securitization of Climate Change
• Securitizing Moves
• Conclusion
• Literaturverzeichnis

Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte

This paper examines the securitization of climate change within the framework of global governance. It aims to analyze whether climate change is best understood as a threat, a risk, or a political issue, and to explore the effectiveness of securitization as a strategy for addressing this challenge. The paper will delve into the concept of securitization, its application to environmental issues, and the specific case of climate change. It will also consider the role of scientific epistemology, intergovernmental organizations, and states in securitizing climate change.

• The concept of securitization and its application to environmental issues
• The securitization of climate change and its effectiveness
• The role of scientific epistemology, intergovernmental organizations, and states in securitizing climate change
• The challenges and limitations of securitizing climate change
• Alternative approaches to addressing climate change

Zusammenfassung der Kapitel

The introduction provides an overview of the issue of climate change and its significance within security studies. It discusses the scientific evidence for global warming, its potential consequences, and the debate surrounding its categorization as a threat, a risk, or a political issue. The chapter also explores the relevance of climate change as a security issue, highlighting its impact on environmental, societal, economic, and political security.

The chapter on the conceptual framework of securitization introduces the Copenhagen School's theory of securitization and desecuritization. It explains the key elements of securitization, including the securitizing actor, the speech act, the referent object, the grammar of securitization, and the legitimating audience. The chapter also discusses the concept of existential threat and its relevance to securitization.

The chapter on the securitization of climate change examines the application of the securitization framework to climate change. It analyzes the specific grammar of securitization used in environmental issues, the global nature of climate change, and the various attempts to securitize it. The chapter also discusses the challenges and limitations of securitizing climate change, including the lack of a unified international community and the difficulty of identifying a clear securitizing actor.

The chapter on securitizing moves explores the various attempts to securitize climate change, focusing on the role of scientific epistemology, intergovernmental organizations, and states. It examines the securitizing moves made by these actors, their referent objects, their grammar of securitization, and the responses of the legitimating audience. The chapter also discusses the effectiveness of these securitizing moves and the challenges they face.

Schlüsselwörter

The keywords and focus themes of the text include climate change, securitization, global governance, environmental security, existential threat, riskification, politicization, scientific epistemology, intergovernmental organizations, states, and the Copenhagen School. The text explores the securitization of climate change as a global issue, examining the effectiveness of this approach and the challenges it faces. It also considers the role of various actors in securitizing climate change and the implications for global governance.

• Université: LMU Munich (Geschwister-Scholl-Institut für Politikwissenschaften)
• Cours: Spezialisierung Governance: Critical Security Studies Securitization and Emergency in Global Governance
• Note: 2,0
• Auteur: Justus Lindl (Auteur)
• Année de publication: 2014
• Pages: 10
• N° de catalogue: V278449
• ISBN (ebook): 9783656713869
• ISBN (Livre): 9783656713500
• Langue: anglais
• mots-clé: climate, change, risk, securitization, emergency, global, governance