Climate Change- A global security threat

The United Nations Security Council, the supreme global body on issues of security and peace, will debate climate change for the first time on April 17. The United Kingdom wants the issue to be considered a matter of global concern, and will have Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett preside over the debate. In March, when the UK announced their intention to bring the issue to the agenda,China and Russia expressed some opposition to the holding the debate.Meanwhile, the United States had no opposition to considering the issue at the Security Council.
In preparation for the debate, the UK has circulated a concept paper arguing that climate change could provoke new wars, change borders, disrupt energy supplies and force mass migration. The paper outlines six areas where climate change could affect global security: border disputes, migration, energy supplies, other resource shortages, societal stress and humanitarian crises--with some estimates that up to 200 million people could be displaced by the middle of the century. (Image source: AP)