Biodiversity
Many scientists today believe that Earth is on the verge of the most significant mass extinction of plant and animal life in 65 million years, perhaps in the entire history of the planet, and certainly in the history of human life on the planet. Human societies around the world depend on access to diverse species – a condition called “biodiversity” – in ways that are obvious, and not so obvious. Biodiversity loss is likely to be highly destabilizing, in that it will constrain access to a full range of natural resources, including food and potable water. Some of the drivers of biodiversity loss, such as poverty and poor governance, can also be drivers of instability, conflict, and insurgencies.
Our Work:
| SUSTAINING SECURITY
In the 21st century, the security of nations will depend increasingly on the security of natural resources, or “natural security.” Beginning in 2009, CNAS analysts began collaborating with a consortium of environmental groups and members of the security community to explore in-depth the real role natural resources play in a variety of U.S. national security and foreign policy concerns. Countries around the world rely on the availability of potable water, arable land, fish stocks, biodiversity, energy, minerals and other renewable and nonre¬newable resources to meet the rising needs and expectations of a growing world population. Yet the availability of these resources is by no means assured. In many cases, the effects of countries securing sufficient resources have strategic implications for the United States; more important, natural resource management and conservation can serve as important tools in building stability, strengthening economies and preventing conflict in countries key to American security. In the report resulting from this project, authors Christine Parthemore and Will Rogers point to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Mexico and Yemen as examples for how natural security challenges within their borders are directly linked to regional stability and U.S. security and foreign policy interests. Read the Report: Sustaining Security: How Natural Resources Influence National Security |
Click here to learn more about our work on biodiversity.
