As climate change becomes a pressing concern for policymakers and citizens around the world, a variety of security discourses have emerged framing the environment as a security issue. While dominant frameworks focus on securing national interests, the international order, or individuals in vulnerable positions, the ecological security framework presents a radical alternative discourse. Ecological security requires a refocusing of the security discourse onto the environment itself, vulnerable communities, and future generations, and requires the exploration of alternative forms of social and economic organization. This framework has often been discounted as an impractical and radical alternative to dominant discourses, however, in this thesis I argue that ecological security can, and is, being enacted by local communities around the world. Similarly overlooked, yet highly relevant to ecological security, is anarchist political thought and methodology. I suggest that anarchist methodology, when employed by environmental activists through direct action, can enable the enactment of ecological security by local communities. By investigating the connections and overlap between blockadia activism, anarchist methodology, and Indigenous resurgence, it is possible to envision a locally-based, bottom-up model of ecological security. Through an investigation of the conflict between Wet’suwet’en land defenders and the Coastal GasLink pipeline, this blockadia-anarchist-ecological security nexus is drawn out and examined as a possible path forward for climate security. / Graduate

Svarstymai apie ekologinio saugumo sampratą bei šio sektoriaus reikšmę valstybių nacionalinių interesų kontekste prasidėjo dar praeito šimtmečio viduryje. Dėl spartaus ekonominio vystymosi kilo daugybė aplinkos saugumo problemų, tiek visame pasaulyje, tiek Baltijos jūros regione. Ekologinio saugumo problemos bei jų sprendimas savo prigimtimi peržengia nacionalinių valstybių sienas. Dėl šios priežasties pradėtos kurti tarptautinės institucijos arba režimai, atsirado poreikis tarptautiniam bendradarbiavimui. Siekiant spręsti aplinkos saugumo klausimus Baltijos jūros regiono valstybės įkūrė Helsinkio Komisiją bei aktyviai dirba šioje srityje. Pagrindinis darbo tikslas yra susipažinti ekologinio saugumo problematika Baltijos jūros regione, įvardijant pagrindinus tikslus bei iššūkius, bei jų įgyvendinimo galimybes ir efektyvumą. Siekiant geriau atskleisti temą darbe yra lyginami Švedijos ir Lietuvos atvejai. Pagrindiniai darbo uždaviniai yra apibrėžti valstybių nacionalinių interesų saugumo sampratą ir plačiau apžvelgti pagrindinius ekologinio arba aplinkos saugumo apibrėžimus ir perspektyvas politikos mokslų teorijoje. Aptarti svarbiausias grėsmes ir iššūkius Baltijos jūros regiono ekologiniam saugumui, atkreipiant dėmesį į pagrindines aplinkos saugumo problemas su kuriomis susiduria Švedija ir Lietuva. Susipažinti su Helsinkio Komisijos vaidmeniu Baltijos jūros regiono ekologinio saugumo srityje. Siekiant įgyvendinti darbo tikslą bei uždavinius naudojamas aprašomasis... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Ecological security problems, such as climate change and severe air and water pollution, have reached global attention over the last couple of decades. Environmental threats are usually caused not only by one state and can have impacts well beyond national borders. Hence, there is an obvious need for cross-national cooperation. The main object of this study is the challenges of ecological security in the Baltic Sea region and the efforts to meet them through cooperation within the Helsinki Commission. The Helsinki Commission is one of the main institutions seeking to ensure marine environment protection in the Baltic Sea through international cooperation between Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the wider European Union. To better understand the role and possible effects of the Helsinki Commission, a comparison between Sweden and Lithuania is being made. The main focus is on recent developments of ecological security, particularly after the adoption of the Helsinki Commission’s Baltic Sea Action Plan in 2007. The central question of this work is: what are the main ecological security problems and objectives set by the Helsinki Commission and what are the challenges for implementation in Sweden and Lithuania? Descriptive, comparative, and analytical research methods are employed in order to analyze this question. Numerous studies have revealed that pollution, caused by the agricultural sector, marine transportation and other... [to full text]

Made available in DSpace on 2012-09-05T18:24:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) 208.pdf: 1988852 bytes, checksum: d19001b42b69eebba40d232c7cc14474 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. / Neste trabalho, nos dedicamos a investigar a relação entre a instituição militar brasileira e a questão ambiental no Brasil, mediante pesquisa exploratória e avaliativa, onde optamos por metodologias qualitativas variadas para a verificação e ampliação do entendimento do pensamento militar. Usamos a triangulação metodológica compondo a partir das técnicas do estudo de caso, entrevista exploratória e análise de conteúdo dos documentos coletados. Analisamos os currículos da Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras, do Centro de Instrução de Guerra na Selva à busca de evidências ambientais. Escolhemos o Clube Militar e a Escola Superior de Guerra para apreender o pensamento militar sobre as questões ambientais, com ênfase do olhar para a Amazônia. No Clube Militar, foram analisados 62 artigos existentes na Revista do Clube Militar no período de 1980-2000 em que vários articulistas generais, coronéis, sócios e convidados escreveram sobre o tema Amazônia, com a finalidade de: (1) ampliar a compreensão sobre o pensamento militar como um todo; (2) identificar a que tendência ambiental se associaria cada artigo (antropocêntrica ou ecocêntrica) e (3) ver como se comportaria a tese majoritária, observada preliminarmente dentre o segmento militar, de que há ameaças deliberadas de internacionalização da Amazônia. Posteriormente, procurando fazer uma análise temática, selecionamos mais de 40 monografias e publicações da Escola Superior de Guerra. Mantivemos o corte temporal de 1980-2000, que coincide com os primórdios das discussões ambientais no Brasil e procuramos dialogar com a literatura o emitido pela fonte. Em geral, grande parte da coletividade militar expressa a idéia de um meio ambiente exclusivamente brasileiro, revelando incompleta formação de seus quadros quanto à problemática ambiental e uma postura de afirmação da soberania nacional nos moldes da doutrina de segurança nacional aplicada aos tratos ambientais, que é materializada pela crença hegemônica na ameaça da internacionalização da Amazônia. Em face dos valores e de sua cultura organizacional, as manifestações do segmento militar em prol de ações ecológicas estão orientadas por uma racionalidade distinta daquela na qual se apóia o pensamento ambiental. A cultura organizacional militar tende a influir negativamente no desempenho militar em relação ao meio ambiente. As conseqüências disso são o cumprimento de missões que tendem a iv menosprezar os delicados meandros da prática de conservação e de preservação ambientais. A mínima inclusão de assuntos ambientais em currículos de escolas militares e a falta de prática em assuntos ambientais trazem dificuldades para que militares conheçam, interpretem e decidam acertadamente sobre aspectos ambientais dos seus papéis e lides profissionais. Ainda assim, organizações militares podem apresentar contribuições aos interesses ambientais, mesmo que por motivações e pressupostos distintos, em razão de que as táticas militares empregadas na área de floresta úmida incentivam um cuidado com a liberação de resíduos e um bom relacionamento com a população regional. Alguns casos de adestramento de militares, como o do Centro de Instrução de Guerra na Selva, oferecem contribuições originais à educação ambiental. Isso se faz importante para a interlocução com outras entidades científicas e organizações sociais que já desenvolvem trabalhos na temática ambiental e que provavelmente interagirão em qualquer projeto de monitoramento e de manejo em que militares venham a participar. O pensamento militar brasileiro tende a articular-se dentro do conceito de “segurança ambiental” e de afastar-se do da “segurança ecológica”. Isso poderá afetar as complexas relações ecossistêmicas e sociais e comprometer com ações antrópicas e profissionais a biodiversidade no Brasil. Além de provocarem significativos impactos ambientais nos tempos de guerra, as atividades militares nos períodos sem guerra também são ambientalmente degradantes. Se os militares não estão lutando nas guerras, estão qualificando-se e adestrando-se para a próxima guerra. Teremos, ao aceitar a força armada, um estado de continuidade dos conflitos de baixa intensidade com impactos ambientais cumulativos, que incluem o uso e a degradação da terra, a poluição e o uso do espaço aéreo e marítimo, o uso da energia e recursos materiais e a geração de resíduos tóxicos. Como vimos, os militares, em suas atividades específicas, algumas vezes podem trazer vantagens para a conservação e restauração ambientais. Algumas porções de terra sob jurisdição militar são mais bem cuidadas pela contenção do cinturão de isolamento como área militar do que pela devolução ao poder público quando não sensibilizado com as questões ambientais em seus procedimentos diários. v No caso do Brasil, a ocupação do território possui marcas da presença do exército por toda a parte e em algumas localidades é o “quartel” o maior provedor de oportunidades diretas e indiretas, até hoje. Como não estamos em guerra, os efeitos nocivos observados pela longa permanência de unidades americanas no exterior, usando terras de outros países não se aplicaria ao Brasil e da mesma forma o impacto social recorrente a isso. Recomendando que as instituições militares tenham cuidado com seus próprios impactos ambientais, existem outros nichos de atuação para os militares. Os militares podem ajudar no reforço de atividades ambientais padronizadas, podem colaborar com suas agências de inteligência no monitoramento e na coleta de informações sobre degradação ambiental e podem ajudar em papéis não violentos de conservação e restauração. Sabemos que o problema de utilizar os militares nessa atividade é que isso possibilita que eles venham a “colonizar” sob o propósito de cooperação. Por outro lado, é potencialmente benigna a idéia de envolver militares e as suas agências de inteligência para monitorar e processar problemas ambientais. Uma melhor formulação (e isso já de forma inicial acontece no Brasil através do SIVAM/SIPAM) é a de uma condição de responsabilidade coletiva e partilhada pela capacidade técnica e instalada da instituição militar em atuar com múltiplos propósitos na coordenação e na vigilância, monitorando sistemas complexos de natureza ambiental. Como trabalhos desta forma poderiam integrar civis e militares (com comunicação, transporte, infra-estrutura viária e aérea) na comunidade local, pensa-se que os sinais de danos ambientais seriam mais eficazmente identificados e abordados. Propõe-se o envolvimento militar nas questões ambientais como estratégia, encorajando e sensibilizando os militares a participarem desta nova proposta, assim conduzida de forma moral e praticamente aceitável, o que significaria não somente dar um passo na direção da proteção e restauração ambiental, mas também de outro para a segurança ecológica e para a modificação estrutural dessas instituições totais modeladas na visão hegemônica da segurança nacional. / In this work, we dedicate to investigate which is the relation between the Brazilian military institution and the environmental question in Brazil, by means of exploratory and evaluative research, where qualitative methodologies varied for the verification and magnifying of the agreement of the military thought. We use the methodologic triangulation composing from the techniques of the case study, the exploratory interview and analysis of content of collected documents. We analyze the resumes of the Military Academy of the Black Needles (AMAN), the Center of Instruction of War in the forest (CIGS) to search for environmental evidences. We choose the Military Club (Clube Militar) and the Superior School of War to apprehend the military thought on environmental questions, with emphasis of Amazonia. In the Military Club, 62 existing articles in the Magazine of the Military Club in the period of 1980-2000 had been analyzed where some general contributors, colonels, partners and guests had written on the subject Amazonia, with the purpose of: (1) to extend the understanding on the military thought as a whole; (2) to identify the one that ambient trend if would associate each article (anthropocentric or ecocentric) and (3) to see as if it would hold the majoritarian thesis, observed preliminarily amongst the military segment, of that it has deliberate threats of internationalization of the Amazonia. Later, looking for to make a thematic analysis, we more than select 40 monographs and publications of the Superior School of War. We kept the secular cut of 1980-2000, that it coincides with the beginnings of the environmental quarrels in Brazil and we look for to dialogue with literature the emitted one for the source. In general, great part of the military collectivity express the idea of an exclusively Brazilian environment, disclosing incomplete formation about the environmental problems and a position of affirmation of the national sovereignty in the shape of the national security doctrine applied to the environmental treatments, that are materialized by the hegemonic belief in the threat of the internationalization of the Amazonia. In face of the values and its organizational culture, the manifestations of the military segment in favor of ecological actions are guided by a very distinct rationality of the environmental thought. The organizacional culture to militate tends to influence negative in the military performance in relation to the environment. The consequences vii are the fulfilment of missions which disturb the delicated faces of environmental conservation and preservation. The minimum inclusion of environment subjects in military schools brings difficulties so that military knows, interprets and decides correctly on environment aspects of its papers and professionals deals. Still thus, military organizations can present contributions to the environment interests, even thou for distinct motivations, in reason of that the used military tactics in the area of humid forest stimulate a care with the release of residues and a good relationship with the regional population. Some cases of military training offer original contributions to environmental education. This makes importance for the interlocution with other scientific entities and social organizations that already develop works in thematic the environment and probably they will interact in any project of surveillance and handling where military come to participate. Also, the Brazilian military thought tends to articulate itself inside of the concept of environmental security and to move away itself from the ecological security. This will be able to affect the complex ecossistemics network and social relations which can compromise, with its professional actions, the biodiversity in Brazil. Besides provoking significant environmental impacts in the war times, the military activities in the periods without war also are environmentally degradatives. If the military are not fighting in the wars, he is training itself for the next war. We will have, when accepting the seted force, a state of continuity of the conflicts of low intensity with cumulative environmental impacts, that include the use and the degradation of the land, the pollution and the use of the airspace and maritime, the use of the energy and material resources and the generation of toxical material. How we saw, the military, in its specific activities, sometimes can bring advantages for the environmental conservation and restoration. Some portions of land under military jurisdiction are most well-taken care of the containment of the military area than devolution to the public power when not sensetized with the environmental questions in its daily procedures. In the case of Brazil, the occupation of the territory possesss marks of the presence of the army for all the part and in some localities the biggest supplier of direct and indirect chances is the "barracks", until today. As we are not in war, the harmful effect observed by the long permanence of American units in the exterior, using lands of other viii countries the recurrent social impact to this would not be applied to Brazil and in the same way. Recommending that the military institutions have care with its proper environmental impacts, other niches of performance for the military exist. The military can help in the reinforcement of standardized environmental activities, they can collaborate with its agencies of intelligence in the surveillance and the collection of information on environmental degradation and can help in not violent papers of conservation and restoration. We know that the problem to use the military in this activity is that this makes possible that they come "to colonize" under the cooperation intention. On the other hand, she is potentially benign the idea to involve military and its agencies of intelligence to monitor and to process environmental problems. One better formularization (and this already of initial form it happens in Brazil through the SIVAM/SIPAM) is a condition of responsibility collective share by the capacity technique and installed of the military institution in acting with multiple intentions in the coordination and the monitoring, monitoring complex systems of environmental nature. As works of this form they could integrate civilians and military (with communication, transport, road and aerial infrastructure) in the local community, think that the signals of environmental damages more efficiently would be identified and boarded. The military envolvement in the environmental questions is considered as strategy, encouraging and sensetizing the military to participate of this new proposal, thus lead of moral and practically acceptable form, what it would not only mean to give to a step in the direction of the protection and environmental restoration, but also of another one for the ecological security and the structural modification of these shaped total institutions in the hegemonic vision of the national security.

This study had two main objectives. The first objective was to determine the factors that influence rural households’ labour allocation and supply decisions for competing livelihood activities, including wetland activities. The second objective was to: develop an ecological-economic model establishing the linkages between the economic and ecological components in a wetland system and apply the model to evaluate the impacts of alternative wetland management and policy regimes on wetland functioning; and supply ecosystem services and economic well-being. To achieve the first objective an agricultural household framework was used. The reduced form labour use and supply equations for wetland products and agricultural grain, derived from optimising the agricultural household model, were estimated jointly using a seemingly unrelated regression model. The model was fitted to data collected from a survey of 143 households in a wetland system in the Limpopo basin of South Africa. Results showed that poor households, most of whom are female-headed households, have less capacity to participate in off-farm employment and rely heavily on farm and wetland activities for their livelihood. This implies that environmental protection policies that limit access to the wetland resources will deepen poverty as the poor will suffer more from deprivation of resources, which play a key role as a livelihoods safety net for the poor. This suggests that in order to enhance the sustainable management of wetlands there is need to identify and promote local level wetland management practices that allow the poor to use wetlands to enhance their economic well-being with minimum adverse effects on wetland ecological conditions instead of adopting strict wetland protection measures. In addition, there is also a need to broaden the opportunities for the poor to diversify into off-farm livelihood activities. This minimises the risks of income fluctuations associated with farm and natural resource-base livelihood sources and therefore provides the necessary positive incentives for wetland conservation and sustainable use. Better access to education is an important instrument for enhancing the poor’s ability to diversify into off-farm livelihood options. These results suggest that wetland conservation and sustainable use has to be integrated with the broader rural poverty reduction initiatives such as: improved access to education; investment in irrigation infrastructure; and improving access to markets. Results also indicate that a household’s exogenous income and wealth status (asset endowment) enhance farm production whilst reducing dependence on wetland products for livelihood. The government should pursue policy measures that reduce rural household liquidity constraints and enhance investment in productive assets (e.g. improving rural household access to credit and off-farm income opportunities) to boost farm production and enhance wetland conservation and sustainable use. To achieve the second objective the study developed a dynamic ecological-economic model. The model is based on the system dynamics framework to capture the multiple interactions and feedback effects between ecological and economic systems. The application of the model in simulating policy scenarios suggests that wetland ecosystem services (crop production and natural resource harvesting) are interlinked with trade-offs involved through their competition for labour, water and land resources. Policy scenario simulation results showed that diversifying livelihoods out of agriculture simultaneously improves economic well-being and enhances wetland conservation. Pure conservation strategies impose significant losses in the economic welfare of the local population unless supported by diversification of livelihood sources. The simulation results also show that the development of a competitive marketing system for harvested biomass products increases returns to wetland biomass products relative to that of wetland grain and it reduces conversion of wetlands to agriculture. Simulation of the predicted reduction in annual precipitation due to climate change in southern Africa showed that climate change is likely to accelerate the conversion of wetlands to agriculture, confirming the important role wetlands play in managing climate variability in smallholder agricultural systems. Government policies that support livelihood diversification into off-farm livelihood opportunities and improve the capacity of the rural poor to adapt to climate change, especially droughts, are critical for wetland conservation and sustainable use. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

A growing body of scholarship has explored the link between climate change, natural resources and conflict. While considerable interest has been shown in examining how and under what circumstances climate change may increase a country’s risks of conflict, research exploring climate change response initiatives in fragile and conflict-affected contexts remains limited. Drawing from political ecology and ecological security literature, I understand climate resilience to be an intrinsic part of peace. This study explores and empirically tests if climate funding, through natural resource management practices, contributes to social cohesion and reduced environmental stress and, hence, peace. By doing a quantitative subnational analysis based on Colombia, I use a Fixed Effects regression model to test two hypotheses. While statistical evidence shows a positive and statistically significant relationship between climate change funding and negative peace, not enough evidence is found to support the second hypothesis linking it to environmental sustainability (as indicator of positive peace).