Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
7
CLIMATE AND EU CONFLICT
PREVENTION POLICIES
The European Union (EU) has a rich experience and strong presence in the area of
con
ict has been
increasingly linked to climate factors to a much greater extent than have deliberations
over broader con
ict prevention. As indicated in the previous chapter, internal civil con
ict
between
states. The pertinent question is whether the extensive
range of European con
ict policies has changed in response to the perception that cli-
mate change is likely to intensify civil con
ict. Nick Mabey has made the astute point
that addressing the climate
-
con
ict link requires governments to do more than simply
add a little extra e
ort to their existing, generic con
ict prevention policies. Rather,
they need to tailor these policies much more speci
cally and tightly to the nature of the
instability likely to result from climate change.
1
While the EU and member states have
incorporated some climate-related dimensions into their con
ict prevention instru-
ments, their moves in this direction have lacked conviction. European policy-makers
most commonly opine that climate change is indeed likely to augment the risk of civil
con
ict in resource-stressed societies, but also acknowledge that this prognosis has not
prompted any signi
cant upgrade in EU con
ict prevention e
orts. Nor has it led to
qualitatively di
erentapproachestocon
ict that discernibly build from climate-related
risk indicators. The EU
'
s
'
access to energy
'
initiatives demonstrate some promise of
introducing such tailored speci
city, but concerns persist that these may not be entirely
consistent with broader climate change objectives.
Climate and EU con
ict prevention
Recent years have witnessed a general tailing-o
in European political commit-
ment to con
ict prevention. The prospective threats of
'
climate con
ict
'
have not
