Risky Business: Defining the Concept of Environmental Security

In: Cooperation and conflict: journal of the Nordic International Studies Association, Band 30, Heft 3, S. 239-258

Abstract

The article discusses the way global environmental problems have been included in the concept of environmental security. The concept has been developed as an alternative to the traditional concept of security, which emphasizes the security of the state and the military means of securing it. The discussion on the concept of environmental security has concentrated on the unit of analysis: it has been suggested that an environmental component be included in the concept of national security, global security or societal security. However, the problem in the concept of environmental security is that the referent object of security, the environment, has not been given enough attention. The relationships between the man, the environment and globalization of environmental problems require more thorough study in order to develop the concept.