1st Edition

Climate Migration and Security Securitisation as a Strategy in Climate Change Politics

By Ingrid Boas Copyright 2015
210 Pages 17 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

210 Pages 17 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

210 Pages 17 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Climate migration, as an image of people moving due to sea-level rise and increased drought, has been presented as one of the main security risks of global warming. The rationale is that climate change will cause mass movements of climate refugees, causing tensions and even violent conflict. Through the lens of climate change politics and securitisation theory, Ingrid Boas examines how and why... Read more

Selected Contents:  1. Introduction: The Securitisation of Climate Migration  2. Comparing the Different Schools on Securitisation  3. A Pragmatic Framework for Analysis  4. Stage One - Securitising Moves on Climate Migration Endorsing  5. Stage Two - The Response from Emerging Developming Countries  6. Stage Three - The outcome of the Securitisation Process on Climate Migration  7. Conclusion

Biography

Ingrid Boas is Assistant Professor in Climate Governance at the Environmental Policy Group at Wageningen University, the Netherlands. Her research particularly focusses on the topic of climate change-induced migration and climate security.

"Few in Europe doubt that climate change represents a significant global challenge. But less obvious is the extent to which climate change has become both a subject and tool of global diplomacy in recent years. In this excellent and well-researched book, Ingrid Boas sheds light on how small island and European states - notably the UK - have constructed climate change as a security threat, and their unsuccessful efforts to persuade major emerging developing countries - notably India - that this threat is significant. Her analysis tells us much about the misunderstandings and mistrust that beset international diplomacy in the 21st century."Professor Richard Black, SOAS, University of London

"Threats of ‘climate wars’ and floods of ‘climate refugees’ have been central in the climate-change discourse for years, especially in the richer countries in the North. But does such ‘securitisation’ of climate policy really help? Who pushes discourses of ‘environmental security’, and who benefits? Ingrid Boas’ outstanding analysis reveals in great detail the complex politics around recent attempts at a ‘securitisation’ of climate politics. Her book is a must-read for scholars as well as policy-makers in this field, who will find in this remarkable study an important insight: ‘Scare stories’ are not the best means to convince an already skeptical audience."Frank Biermann, VU University Amsterdam and Lund University