Regional Environmental Governance: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Theoretical Issues, Comparative Designs (REGov) The instrumental use of ecology in conflict resolution and security

Abstract This contribution is based on a set of reflections presented at the REGov Workshop. These reflections were offered as part of apanel discussion around the topic “Regional security and the environment.” Additional presentations provided in the context of this panel discussion include those of Richard Matthew, University of California Irvine (this volume) and Benedikt Korf, University of Zurich (this volume). Webcasts of all presentations are available at http://www.reg-observatory.org/outputs.html.© 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Keywords: Environment and security; Conflict resolution; Environmental peacemaking; Biodiversity 1. Introduction Ecological processes have been traditionally taken for granted by economists and policy-makers alike. The persistent notion of the environment as an “externality” has also been dominant among security organizations. Despite the resurgence of environmental security narratives, there is still a rather stagnant approach to environmental indicators among the defense establishment. Occasionally we have rumblings of a particular linkage between a crisis scenario that might lead to resource scarcity and hence pose a ‘security threat.” However, such narratives are usually confined to the margins of the defense establishment worldwide. Furthermore, the potential for using ecological cooperation as a preventative measure against conflict escalation has rarely been invoked. The cause for this reluctance may stem from the following factors: a) A lack of recognition that a decline in environmental quality is collectively damaging, particularly in the context of air-sheds, lacustrine ecosystems and global resources such as biodiversity; b) The transport of pollutants downstream with differential impacts that detract from seeing the collective good of environmental cooperation; and c) A prioritization by policy-makers that more imminent threats to life and wellbeing arise from human pugnacity that trumps environmental harms that might otherwise be recognized.