Climate Change and the Environmental Conflict Discourse

This chapter explores how discourses about environmental conflicts have evolved and whether and how they have contributed to transforming security provisions and politics. It shows that the conceptualization of environmental security and the influence of the realist understanding of security have shaped the debate about environmental conflicts. Despite this initial framing, the debate has evolved and has contributed to bringing about a transformation of security practices in which preventive measures have gained relevance, even if traditional security narratives have reappeared, especially in the recent debate on climate change. This process is described through two dynamics: the securitization of climate change and the governmentalization of security. This chapter shows that the transformation of security practices can be conceptualized, adopting a broader understanding of securitization (see chap. 8 by Brzoska; chap. 9 by Oels; chap. 13 by Karafoulidis).