In the post-Cold War era, the pre-eminent threats to our security derive from human degradation of vital ecosystems as well as the possibility of war and terrorist attack. This substantial book examines this new 'security-environment' paradigm and the way in which the activities of societies are shifting the balance with nature. The distinguished authors investigate this redefinition of security with particular reference to environmental threats such as climate change and the availability of adequate supplies of food and water. They illustrate how unfettered economic growth, rising levels of personal consumption and unsustainable natural resource and energy procurement are taking a heavy toll on the global environment. This, in turn, is forcing both developed and developing countries to re-evaluate the more immediate environmental security of their own populations. For a truly global perspective, the authors present a series of country case-studies, looking at issues of security and environment, and comparing how they influence policy and human well-being. They also discuss a number of theoretical issues which underpin discussions of 'environmental security', demonstrating that this is a relatively new and essentially contested concept. This thought-provoking book highlights the way in which both security and sustainability are being reworked as concepts and are being linked increasingly to social, economic and cultural factors. It will be of great interest to academics, researchers and students in environmental management, sociology, geography, international relations and politics.

Table of Contents:
Contents Introduction: Human security and the environment at the new millennium Edward Page and Michael Redclift PART I CONCEPTS 1 Human security and the environment Edward Page 2 Democracy and the environment Nils Petter Gleditsch and Bjørn Otto Sverdrup 3 The environment and civil society: the rights to nature, and the rights of nature Michael Redclift 4 Global environmental change and human security: what do indicators indicate? Steve Lonergan, Fred Langeweg and Henk Hilderink PART II CHALLENGES 5 Climate change as a security issue Johannes Stripple 6 Food security Colin Sage 7 Water and ‘cultural security’ Chris Cocklin PART III INTERNATIONAL CASES 8 The European Union and the ‘securitisation’ of the environment John Vogler 9 Human security and the environment: the North American perspective Richard Matthew 10 Human security and the environment in Sub-Saharan Africa: the challenge of the new millennium Kwasi Nsiah-Gyabaah 11 The semantics of ‘human security’ in North-west Amazonia: between indigenous peoples’ ‘management of the world’ and the USA’s state security policy for Latin America Oscar Forero and Graham Woodgate 12 Fresh water in Costa Rica: abundant yet constrained Álvaro Fernández-González, Viviana Blanco-Barboza and Edgar E. Gutiérrez-Espeleta Index