It's the security, stupid: how Greens could shape the EU's climate security policy

The author contends that climate change acts as a 'threat multiplier' that exacerbates global instability, migration, and conflict, yet remains absent from public debate. The text proposes that the EU shift toward a 'geographic climate security policy'—modeled on UNEP's analysis of the Sahel—which assesses how climate factors intersect with political and security risks in specific territories. To implement this, the Greens suggest creating an EU Special Representative on Climate Security, mainstreaming climate security across all external policy funds, and reducing European dependency on fossil fuel imports from autocratic states to limit their ability to finance aggression.

• Climate change is characterized as a 'threat multiplier' that accelerates instability and material insecurity, specifically linking water and food scarcity to armed conflict and migration.
• Despite various EU reflections, including the 2016 EU Global Strategy and reports from the European Parliament, the EU still lacks a precise definition of climate security necessary to trigger concrete policy action.
• The author proposes a 'geographic climate security policy' based on the 2011 UNEP report on the Sahel, where the EU would first assess the intersection of climate and security factors in a specific territory before activating policy instruments.
• The Greens propose several institutional tools for a robust EU climate security policy: the creation of an EU Special Representative on Climate Security, the presence of climate experts in the EEAS, and the mainstreaming of climate security into all external policy areas similar to the EU's human rights policy.
• The Greens recommend that a specific portion of the budget for all external policies, regulations, and trust funds be dedicated to climate change mitigation and preventive security in politically destabilized countries.
• Reducing European dependency on fossil fuel imports, particularly from autocratic countries with aggressive foreign policies, is presented as a security measure to limit those states' ability to finance instability.

APA

Heider, D. C. T. (2017). It's the security, stupid: how Greens could shape the EU's climate security policy. Green European Journal. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/its-the-security-stupid-how-greens-could-shape-the-eus-climate-security-policy/

Chicago

Heider, Delphine Chalençon, Tobias. It's the security, stupid: how Greens could shape the EU's climate security policy. Green European Journal, 2017. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/its-the-security-stupid-how-greens-could-shape-the-eus-climate-security-policy/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Heider |first1=Delphine Chalençon, Tobias |title=It's the security, stupid: how Greens could shape the EU's climate security policy |publisher=Green European Journal |date=1 April 2017 |url=https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/its-the-security-stupid-how-greens-could-shape-the-eus-climate-security-policy/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{heider2017its, author = {Heider, Delphine Chalençon, Tobias}, title = {{It's the security, stupid: how Greens could shape the EU's climate security policy}}, publisher = {Green European Journal}, year = {2017}, month = apr, url = {https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/its-the-security-stupid-how-greens-could-shape-the-eus-climate-security-policy/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }