Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
conceptualised in a way that provides a
llip to the EU
'
s existing security norms,
rather than contradicting or emasculating these.
Notwithstanding this, the policy record reveals that the EU still has a long road
to travel before it can be said fully to have de
ned a set of geo-economic strategies
that coherently and clearly address the security implications of climate change. The
consensus is strong on the central importance of climate change
s geo-economic
impact, but less robust on what the appropriate way is to respond. European poli-
cies currently pull in contrasting directions: some responses have sought to deepen
free trade commitments in order to smooth the
'
ow of renewables; others betray
'
governments
desire to keep a tighter control over trade and the harnessing of new
technologies. Policy-makers
ects a necessary balance between
market and state, between interdependence and protective national (or EU)
autonomy. However, due to uncertainty over which leg of policy merits priority,
the EU has moved decisively on neither front; climate concerns have not yet
proven a major factor in explaining moves either for or against free trade. More-
over, there is a signi
suggest
this
re
erence between governments backing their compa-
nies to maximise economic gains from renewables technology, on the one hand,
and their prioritising a fully comprehensive understanding of economic security, on
the other hand. On occasion, European governments come close to con
cant di
ating
these two strands of policy
that is, of reducing economic security to commercial
advancement in green technology. In short, while European e
-
orts to address the
geo-economic dimensions of climate security have evolved notably, the policy mix
remains ad hoc and often inchoate, with di
erent aspects of incipient responses
sometimes seeming to cancel each other out.
Notes
1 B. Lee, F. Preston, J. Kooroshy, R. Bailey and G. Lahn,
Resources Futures
, London,
Chatham House, 2013, pp. 5
-
9.
2 J. Martin,
The Meaning of the 21st Century
, London, Eden Project Books, 2006, p. 303.
3 T. Jackson,
Prosperity without Growth
, London, Earthscan, 2009.
4 D. Helm,
'
Green growth: Opportunities, challenges and costs
'
, in L. Tsoukalis and
J. Emmanouilidis (eds),
The Delphic Oracle on Europe: Is There a Future for the European
Union?
Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011.
5 S. Dalby,
'
Climate change: New dimensions of environmental security
'
,
RUSI Journal
,
158/3, 2013, 34
-
43.
6 C. Paskal,
Global Warring
, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, p. 20 and p. 95.
7S.King,
Losing Control: The Emerging Threats to Western Prosperity
, Yale University Press, 2011.
8 Citi Bank,
Energy Darwinism: The Evolution of the Energy Industry
, London, Citi Bank,
October 2013.
9 Martin,
The Meaning
, p. 302.
10 European Commission,
EU2020: Europe's Growth Strategy
, Brussels, European Commis-
sion, 2010.
