CLIMATE CHANGE AS A NON-TRADITIONAL SECURITY THREAT IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Abstract

This qualitative article discusses climate change as an unconventional security challenge in international relations. It posits that climate change cannot be perceived as just an environmental or a developmental problem, but also as a security problem which impacts human survival, the stability of a state, the stability of a region and the stability of the world at large. The paper follows a qualitative, document-based method and relies on secondary sources such as IPCC Synthesis Report, United Nations climate-security documents, World Bank migration reports, and the academic literature in the field of international relations and security studies. The thematic interpretation, instead of statistical testing, is used in the analysis. The article concludes that climate change qualifies as a non-traditional security due to its transboundary nature, a civilian-based focus, and a high degree of interdependence with food insecurity, water stress, displacement, and public health risks, and institutional fragility. It also concludes that climate change does not often directly trigger conflict in a straight line manner, but rather serves as a threat multiplier, which exacerbates existing weaknesses, particularly when governance is weak and social protection is scarce. The Sahel, South Asia, and Small Island Developing States regional illustrations depict that climate insecurity is both local and international. The paper concludes that in developing a new understanding of security, global politics should shift beyond the limited military sense of security and put climate resilience, adaptation funding, preventive diplomacy, and cooperative governance at the core of the new security concept.