TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION WHAT IS "HUMAN SECURITY"? WHAT TYPES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AFFECT HUMAN SECURITY? WHAT REGIONS ARE MOST AT RISK? ADAPTATION AND HUMAN SECURITY WHAT TYPES OF POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS CAN ONE MAKE GLOBALLY? MORE INFORMATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

WHAT IS "HUMAN SECURITY"? A common definition of security found in the dictionary includes freedom from danger, poverty, or apprehension. Initially, human security was interpreted even more narrowly as meaning threats to the physical security of the person. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN in 1948 states that "everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security of person…" However, the concept of human security now encompasses economic, health, and environmental concerns as well. It is, as the UN Development Program (UNDP) notes, an "integrative" as opposed to merely a "defensive" concept, and includes security of individuals and communities as well as territories and states. Accordingly, the definition of human security which has been adopted by the project on Global Environmental Change and Human Security 1 — and the one that is used in this document — includes seven categories of threats: Economic security (assured basic income) Food security (physical and economic access to food) Health security (relative freedom from disease and infection) Environmental security (access to sanitary water supply, clean air and a non- degraded land system) Personal security (security from physical violence and threats) Community security (security of cultural integrity) Political security (protection of basic human rights and freedoms) This concept of human security has a geographic component as well. The UNDP recognizes global challenges to human security, which arise because the threats are international in nature. According to the UNDP, global threats to human security include: Unchecked population growth Disparities in economic opportunities Excessive international migration Environmental degradation Drug protection and trafficking International terrorism The appeal of the term "human security" is that it recognizes the linkages between environment and society, and acknowledges that our perceptions of the environment, and the way we use the environment, are historically, socially and politically constructed. It also recognizes two other features of the link between environment and security. First, that feedback exists between environment and security; for example, environmental degradation may result in population movement which, in turn, poses a threat to the environment. The ecological impacts of large refugee movements have only recently received serious attention, but it is increasingly acknowledged that large influxes of people can have significant environmental implications for the receiving region. Second, the responses to the insecurities posed by environmental degradation may contribute to other insecurities. In the example noted above, population movement could also threaten other aspects of security and may, in some situations, result in conflict. These two features — one of feedback and the other of potential linkages across a spectrum of social and environmental impacts — are characteristic features of the link between environment and human security. ENDOTES 1. A project which is coordinated by the Canadian Global Change Program, The Netherlands Human Dimensions of Global Change Programme and the International Human Dimensions of Global Change Programme