Environmental Change, Vulnerability and Security In the Pacific

Abstract

"Intuitively at least, we have a sense that environmental change has the potential to undermine human security. The degradation of resources can negatively affect the capacity of people to sustain their livelihoods. Accessibility to basic necessities such as food can be reduced by environmental change and there are widespread effects upon human health that can be linked directly to changes in the quality of the environment. Peoples’ sense of security can be influenced also when resource exploitation and environmental change have impacts upon local communities, cultural norms and traditions, and socio-political structures. In some acute cases, the insecurities that arise from environmental change may lead to violent conflict."