Failed Securitization of Climate Change on the Agenda of the UN Security Council

The attempt to set climate change on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council ( UNSC ) has failed, despite nearly twenty years of international efforts. The main reason for such a failure lies in the fact that securitization does not happen in a vacuum; instead, it happens in the context of time inconsistency, anarchical sovereignty, and institutional contestation. First, time is inconsistent between urgent measures to address climate change and the long-term benefits spanning more than one generation. Second, China and Russia, two veto players at the UNSC , along with many developing countries, are concerned more about their sovereignty over their own energy security than climate securitization. Third, there is institutional contestation between the UNSC and the UNFCCC over authority in global climate governance. Given these complexities, a more pragmatic approach for the UNSC to tackle climate change might be to incorporate it alongside the existing items on its agenda

China · Climate change · Context (archaeology · International law · Political economy of climate change · Securitization · Sovereignty · Veto · Global Energy Security and Policy · Global Security and Public Health · Transboundary Water Resource Management