Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
e
ectively to Haiti and that Spain led the NATO mission that was sent to deal
with the impact of
s consideration
of climate security has so far been limited to two issues: responses to such natural
disasters and the need for defence forces to improve their own energy e
oods in Pakistan in 2009, the Spanish military
'
ciency.
26
Spanish defence o
cers say they understand the climate issue as being mainly about
making logistics lighter for
eld missions.
Sweden has begun to give thought to the role of its armed forces in multilateral
operations, and in particular of how its military will require greater training in and
knowledge of climate factors. As one o
cial reports:
'
We are already looking into
the e
ects of carrying out civilian missions and military operations in climate-stressed
environments.
As one example of progress, the Swedish armed forces have incor-
porated teams that can assess the environmental situation on the ground and ensure
that the military itself does not cause harm as it moves into fragile, at-risk areas.
UN representatives and development agencies still fret over an encroaching
military role, accusing the armed forces of seeing climate con
'
ict as a problem to
be contained through armed intervention rather than an issue about social
empowerment to attain long-term solutions. European military representatives
deny this strenuously and insist they do not want the lead role on climate security.
They claim that their role is a relatively minor one and that
-
contrary to critics
'
accusations
-
it does not conveniently help them mobilise resources as it is not a
high-pro
le enough issue for governments. In fact, militaries feel repelled by other
actors
perspectives on climate security. Militaries complain that these other actors
have increasingly couched climate security in a language unfamiliar to the armed
forces with little emphasis on the kind of impacts that have the tangible, discrete
problem-solving quality that militaries like.
'
Defending the homeland?
Some observers judge that the most practical change in the
eld of climate security
to date has been the pressure on governments to turn armed forces inwards to deal
with domestic
oods and storms; in consequence, the danger is emerging of
climate change actually weakening the focus on foreign policy engagements.
27
Several analysts have suggested that climate change
'
s most notable impact on mili-
tary con
gurations will be the onus it places on defending home territories against
extreme weather. One expert on military strategy notes the trends amongst defence
planners: a
and in boosting
national guards; and a re-reorganisation of forces to keep as many troops as possible
stationed out of the regions likely to require climate-related intervention.
28
While much of the new EU security rhetoric is about addressing climate-ravaged
failed states,
'
renewed interest in a nation
'
s civil defence capacity
'
in reality pressure will be strong for resources to be diverted into
