page_title: National security
section_title: Ecological security
hierarchical_section_title: National security / Dimensions of national security / Ecological security
caption_attribution_description: العربية: لاجئون سوريُّون وعراقيُّون يصلون من تُركيا إلى منطقة سكالا سيكامياس، بِجزيرة لسبوس (مديلي)، في اليونان. يظهر في الصُورة كذلك مُتطوعون إسپان (فريق نجدة - ذوي الملابس الصفراء والحمراء) من جمعيَّة "أذرع پروآكتيڤا المفتوحة" وهُم يُساعدون اللاجئين. Català: Refugiats sirians i iraquians intenten desembarcar a l'illa de Lesbos. Membres de la ONG Proactiva Open Arms (amb armilles de flotació grogues) intenten ajudar-los. Ελληνικά: Σύροι και Ιρακινοί πρόσφυγες φτάνουν στην Σκάλα Συκαμιάς Λέσβου από την Τουρκία. English: Syrian and Iraqi refugees arrive from Turkey to Skala Sykamias, Lesbos island, Greece. Volunteers (life rescue team - with yellow-red clothes) from the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms help the refugees. Español: Refugiados sirios e iraquíes tratan de desembarcar en las aguas costeras de Lesbos en Grecia, después de haber cruzado desde Turquía. Türkçe: Türkiye'den yola çıkan ve Yunanistan'ın Midilli adasına ulaşan Suriyeli ve Iraklı sığınmacılar
context_page_description: National security or national defence is the security and defence of a nation state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government.
  Originally conceived as protection against military attack, national security is now widely understood to include also non-military dimensions, including the security from terrorism, minimization of crime, economic security, energy security, environmental security, food security, cyber-security etc. Similarly, national security risks include, in addition to the actions of other nation states, action by violent non-state actors, by narcotic cartels, and by multinational corporations, and also the effects of natural disasters.
  Governments rely on a range of measures, including political, economic, and military power, as well as diplomacy, to safeguard the security of a nation-state. They may also act to build the conditions of security regionally and internationally by reducing transnational causes of insecurity, such as climate change, economic inequality, political exclusion, and nuclear proliferation.
context_section_description: Ecological security, also known as environmental security, refers to the integrity of ecosystems and the biosphere, particularly in relation to their capacity to sustain a diversity of life-forms (including human life). The security of ecosystems has attracted greater attention as the impact of ecological damage by humans has grown. The degradation of ecosystems, including topsoil erosion, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and climate change, affect economic security and can precipitate mass migration, leading to increased pressure on resources elsewhere. Ecological security is also important since most of the countries in the world are developing and dependent on agriculture and agriculture gets affected largely due to the climate change, and this effect affects the economy of the nation which in turn affects national security.
  The scope and nature of environmental threats to national security and strategies to engage them are a subject of debate. Romm (1993) classifies the major impacts of ecological changes on national security as:
  Transnational environmental problems. These include global environmental problems such as climate change due to global warming, deforestation, and loss of biodiversity.
  Local environmental or resource pressures. These include resource scarcities leading to local conflict, such as disputes over water scarcity in the Middle East; migration into the United States caused by the failure of agriculture in Mexico; and the impact on the conflict in Syria of erosion of productive land. Environmental insecurity in Rwanda following a rise in population and dwindling availability of farmland, may also have contributed to the genocide there.
  Environmentally threatening outcomes of warfare. These include acts of war that degrade or destroy ecosystems. Examples are the Roman destruction of agriculture in Carthage; Saddam Hussein's burning of oil wells in the Gulf War; the use of Agent Orange by the UK in the Malayan Emergency and the USA in the Vietnam War for defoliating forests; and the high greenhouse gas emissions of military forces.
caption: Refugees fleeing war and insecurity in Iraq and Syria arrive at Lesbos Island, supported by Spanish volunteers, 2015
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