Navigating a Global Crisis: Climate Change and NATO
Publisher: NATO Association of Canada
Author(s): Tom Middendorp, Erin Sikorsky, Simon Dalby, Justin Dell, Mariia Kobzeva, Emma Hakala, Ebimboere Seiyefa, Ayan Mahamoud, Ibrahim Al-Marashi, and Amar Causevic
Date: 2023
Topics: Climate Change, Cooperation, Disasters, Governance, Programming
Notable institutions, such as the United Nations and the European Union, have declared that climate change endangers international security. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) shares these concerns and has expressed a desire to influence the global movement to meet this threat. However, the suitability and practicability of this objective have elicited conflicting opinions. For sceptics, an alliance predicated on safeguarding its members from the hostile actions of other states lacks a compelling rationale for mobilizing against climate change. Others argue that NATO, which has a history of facilitating cooperation on environmental issues and through scientific venues, can and must make institutional space for climate change in the interests of global security and operational efficiency. But the amount of attention or effort that NATO should devote to climate change varies depending on the observer. Furthermore, punditshave diverged on which of the strategies put forward— frameworks premised on specific theories or the invocation of Article 5, the North Atlantic Treaty’s collective defence clause, for instance— should influence or guide NATO as the alliance navigates climate change.