Climate Change: An Issue for National Security (Australia 2010)

Professor Will Steffen will be addressing the 8th Annual National Security Australia conference in Sydney

Professor Will Steffen, who will be addressing the 8^th Annual National Security Australia conference in Sydney on the 25^th - 26^th of February 2010, says climate change is "challenging some of the fundamental ways in which societies are supported", such as food production, water resources, and urban infrastructure. Climate-driven impacts in these areas can lead to the displacement of people, and consequently to geopolitical tension.

"The impact of climate change on Australia's security may well be based on the impacts in the region around us rather than on direct impacts to Australia," he said.

For example, Professor Steffen argues that a particularly significant issue is water resources, where changes in flow and water availability in some parts of Asia will create severe challenges to food production, leading to security issues when large numbers of people migrate out of regions where there is growing water stress.

"....the large Himalayan glaciers are retreating quite rapidly and the latest projections are that they may disappear completely around the middle of the century," he warned. "At least a billion people rely directly on this resource to support their food production."

Professor Steffen asserts that climate change is a problem for which traditional solutions to national security may not work.

"Climate change is such a fundamental problem and so long-term that it's different from most problems that humans have faced in the past. That means that traditional approaches like strengthening national borders or similar actions may not work very well in dealing with climate change."

Professor Steffen will describe the basic features of climate change to give delegates a better understanding of the pervasive nature of the problem, and the implications for national security.