A View of the Main Environmental Security Issues and Policies

Abstract

The natural environment is normally in an equilibrate status but it can easily be altered by different phenomena, some of them induced directly or -indirectly by men. The effects of those phenomena could lead to negative processes, like permanent land degradation, depletion of water resources and desertification. As a consequence the environment becomes unstable and populations are exposed to increased competition for essential food and water resources. Such a competition could involve neighbour communities and countries, thus creating conditions for tensions and conflicts. The consequences of the degradation of the environment have an immediate negative effect on the ecosystem as a whole; but this evidence has to be expanded by taking into account the effects of a degraded environment on the dynamic of populations, on their activities and on their development. An equilibrate environment is by definition safe since it provides the essential resources and services to all its living components. In case of natural or man-induced disasters the environment is no longer safe since their direct consequences (floodings; forest fires; accidents in power plants and in industrial sites) put populations in serious danger. In addition to these events, other factors like bad management or overexploitation of an ecosystem and the climate change, could create very adverse environmental conditions (water scarcity; land degradation; desertification etc.), which ultimately contribute to destabilise entire populations; their lifestyle and their development. Such a process is frequently the origin of tensions and conflicts among populations and between neighbouring communities and countries, particularly when these are sharing the same river basins and/or competing for the same basic resources. This is the typical scenario to which the concept of Environment Security should be referred. It is a relatively new and non traditional field for analysis and assessments, but unfortunately it is already matter of serious concern in many part of the world.