And Somalia must contend with Al Shabaab devastating forests and burning charcoal to fund their violent wars. Politico-economics of climate change eco-terrorism explained | … Young people are especially vulnerable to eco-anxiety, as most of the burden for fixing climate change will fall on them. Environmental Change and Security Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, The blog of the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program, Pop at COP: Population and Family Planning at the UN Climate Negotiations, U.S. Intelligence Community Recognizes Climate Change in Worldwide Threat Assessment, Anticipatory Intelligence: Climate Change in the National Intelligence Strategy, Water, Conflict, and Peacebuilding (Animated Short), Healthy People, Healthy Environment (Tanzania), New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, Energy and the Military: Leading by Example, ReliefWeb: Building Climate Resilience for Food Security. Sources: Council on Foreign Relations, Homeland Security Today, National University System Institute for Policy Research, New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, PRI, Sustainability, The New York Times, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Wildfire Today. Foresters and fire protection experts are increasingly realizing that a century of aggressive federal fire suppression policy has led to uncharacteristically dense forests. While the United Nations has funded solar-powered pumps to combat water scarcity in Yemen, the international community must go further. As global fresh water supplies become increasingly scarce, extremist groups are stepping up attacks and manipulating supply as a strategic tactic of coercion. All rights reserved. This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. In Afghanistan, the Islamic State and the Taliban often profit from illegal logging. The idea that terrorism and climate change are somehow connected is a seductive one. Duterte tells UN: Fight climate change with the same urgency as … AQAP fixed water mains and wells in towns struggling with droughts as political violence undercut the ability of the Yemeni government to provide similar basic services to the few regions under its control. In 2012, an issue of the online magazine Inspire surfaced on jihadi Internet forums detailing how to construct an “ember bomb” to target forested areas of the United States. Climate change mitigation and environmental protection measures are thus seen as structural preconditions to tackle the root causes of the Sahel’s insecurity and rising (jihadist) violence. While developing countries produce few greenhouse gases, they have the most to lose to the greenhouse effect, and militants are highlighting this disparity. Because precarious central governments in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and Yemen lack the financial resources and political bandwidth to prepare for the worst effects of climate change, terrorist groups can pretend to adopt the mantle of environmentalism as they devastate the natural environment in regions outside the control of overstretched militaries. Analysts suggest that Al Shabaab opted to ban plastic bags because plastic pollution was choking the livestock that it taxed, not because the Somali militants cared about the potential for an ecological crisis. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. We’re no car owners, and with the market skyrocketing like it has, that’s not changing anytime soon. In total, 41% respondents selected climate change, followed by pollution (36%) and terrorism (31%). Terrorists take advantage of disruptions in fragile states – and these include water and food shortages associated with climate change. Drought also creates tinderbox conditions, increasing the potential for intentionally set fires near populated areas and critical infrastructure. Climate change is helping terrorism and organized crime thrive in fragile states, boosting recruitment for groups like Boko Haram and ISIS, according to a new report. And despite being mocked by conservative media and Democratic operatives alike, Sanders held fast to his assertion that climate change is the greatest threat to national security and is “directly related to the growth of terrorism .” The underlying causes of climate change make us vulnerable, but the problem goes beyond environmental issues. At the same time, not teaching climate change is doing our students a disservice. His disciples in Africa and Asia, however, have transformed environmental issues from mere talking points into startling opportunities for increasing brand awareness and recruitment. But a holistic approach offers opportunities to address both problems at once. Environmentalists have accused corporations ranging from ExxonMobil [6] and General Electric to McDonalds [7] [8] of eco-terrorism. How climate change is causing African jihadism and the migration … The causes of—and remedies for—these two kinds of disasters are seen as separate and distinct. In a changing climate, the wall between natural disasters and terrorism is breaking down, creating new vulnerabilities. CLIMATE change warriors were mocked by viewers on This Morning after claiming they suffer from “eco-anxiety”. The report, commissioned by the German Department for Foreign Affairs, looked at four case studies … Such conditions generate more intense conflagrations, prevent more water from reaching underground aquifers, and reduce the health of the forests. Scott Somers is Professor of Practice in Emergency Management at Arizona State University. First, we need to acknowledge the connection between the natural environment and vulnerability to terrorism by integrating sustainability principles and practices into the National Homeland Security Strategy. WASHINGTON: Disruptions like political violence and sectarian strife in fragile states empower terrorist groups, and the same is true of climate change. Elsewhere, ISIS’s shortsighted efforts to tap wells seized from the petroleum industry led to oil spills throughout Iraq, and Al Shabaab has burned once-lush Somali forests in its search for charcoal and wood to sell. Climate Change Adaptation and Population Dynamics in Latin America and the Caribbean (Report), A Dangerous Dichotomy: Women’s Paid and Unpaid Work During COVID-19, U.S. v. China: The Global Battle for Hearts, Minds, and Resources. During his many years in hiding, the figurehead lent rhetorical support to the environmental movement, and the true extent of his dedication to environmentalism remains subject to debate. For its part, the news media must emphasize terrorist groups’ contributions to environmental degradation instead of equating them with the environmental movement. © Copyright 2007-2020. The US Intelligence Community already studies climate change as a threat to national security. Eco-fascism featured in El Paso terrorism suspect’s alleged manifesto The racist rant calls for mass killings to make America more ‘sustainable.’ Other terrorists have done the same. It could increase poverty (affecting food security and livelihoods) and inequalities (with scarce resources captured by elites, or grievances invoked by climate injustices), which could act as instigating causes for terrorist activity ( … New sustainable water technologies are emerging that integrate decentralized systems with traditional, centralized conveyance and treatment networks. The U.S. military recognizes that global competition for finite natural resources is a national security concern and has embraced sustainability as a vital strategic security element and mission enabler. Climate change and human modification may restrict ecosystems’ ability to temper the impacts of extreme conditions, and thus may increase vulnerability to damage. A report by the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness identified 26 specific threats of water contamination in the United States between 1968 and 2008. Finally, we must restore and rebalance ecosystems to mitigate the terrorism threat. Planned Chaos Part 6 - Arson & Eco Terrorism - Prepare For Change – YaleGlobal, Terrorist groups feign leadership on climate change, hijacking environmental narratives to challenge fragile governments in the Middle East and Africa, © 2019 YaleGlobal and the MacMillan Center. Most analysts suggest that, since water itself would dilute any toxin or pathogen, the quantity of material needed to sufficiently contaminate the supply makes such an attack technically difficult. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, often described as the most dangerous offshoot of bin Laden’s terrorist group, reapplied ISIS’s approach to its sphere of influence in Yemen several years later. CLIMATE CHANGE AND TERRORISM | This is a call for a journal special issue to bring together original studies to examine the links between climate change and terrorism. Fire as a tool of warfare is well documented. Environmental Change and Security Program. Around the world, environmental stress due to unpredictable weather catalyzes political violence, further undermining weak governments. Courtesy of Diariocritico de Venezuela/AFP. “While developing countries produce few greenhouse gases, they have the most to lose to the greenhouse effect, and militants are highlighting this disparity.” Osama bin Laden, organizer of the 9/11 attacks who was killed in 2011, relied on environmental issues in his propaganda. ‘Eco … Climate Change, Terrorism Top List of Challenges Facing US Military The crew of the Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Hampton (SSN 767) … Second, governments and utilities must fund investments in smaller scale, distributed infrastructure systems. Ecosystems can serve as natural buffers from extreme events such as wildfires, flooding, and drought. One military officer wrote in his 2005 thesis: “An opportunistic terrorist can unleash multiple fires creating a conflagration potentially equal to a multi-megaton nuclear weapon.” Wildfires can have a profoundly negative effect on a region’s economy: the damage from California’s 2018 conflagrations is estimated at $400 billion. The real solution is to deal with the conditions that make pyroterrorism a threat. In contrast to other methods employed by extremists, environmental tactics, such as contaminating water supplies or starting fires, can be quickly planned, require little technical expertise to execute, and are harder to detect. Recognizing climate change as a large, global issue can cause eco-anxiety — the chronic fear of environmental doom — in people of all ages. The eco-terrorists seem likely to end up as footnotes in a larger and darker history of climate calamity. By integrating sustainable principles and practices into the national homeland security strategy, we can protect valuable natural resources and reduce the potential for the environment to be exploited as a tool of terror. Policymakers and emergency managers tend to build a conceptual wall between natural hazards and terrorism. Militants from Indonesia to Mali stand to gain from climate change if this trend persists. In a 2017 “special message,” the Taliban urged Afghans to “plant one or several fruit or non-fruit trees for the beautification of Earth and the benefit of almighty God’s creations,” adding in interviews that the insurgents even supported the Afghan government’s attempts at reforestation. Many analysts argue that global warming will fuel further conflict in the Middle East, where flashpoints such as the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula already deal with drought, water shortages and other environmental issues that will only worsen. Once fragile states have comprehensive environmental policies as well as the military capacity to safeguard the natural environment, terrorist groups will find fewer chances to take advantage of global warming. Bernie Sanders similarly linked climate change and the growth of terrorism at the Democratic debate, just a day after the Paris attacks. The Western intelligence agencies, diplomatic corps and militaries that have assisted the governments in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia with their wars on Al Qaeda, ISIS and their allies must account for environmental issues in their approach to counterinsurgency and counterterrorism. Sometimes you gotta risk your life to survive, Jack says, and shrugs.He means we need to keep taking the subway: hope for the best, take precautions. El Paso Terrorism Suspect’s Alleged Manifesto Highlights Eco … Examples include reefs and barrier islands that protect coastal ecosystems from storm surges, wetland ecosystems that absorb floodwaters, and cyclical wildfires that clear excess forest debris and reduce the risk of dangerously lar… Integrating principles and technologies of distributed infrastructure might also enhance the EPA Water Security Initiative. From Afghanistan and Iraq to Somalia and Yemen, terrorist groups are pushing false narratives that they, not cash-strapped central governments, are leading campaigns against deforestation, water scarcity, crop failures and other environmental issues ravaging local communities across Africa and Asia. 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