Exploring the securitisation of climate change within the meaning of Article 39: mapping the narratives of UN Security Council intervention

Abstract

The IPCC is unequivocal that climate change is happening, and its consequences will continue to be devastating for the earth and humanity. The inadequacy of international climate law to mitigate the threat, makes it essential that we search for ways to galvanise the international community into action. The UN Security Council offers a way to inject some much-needed momentum into the international climate response. However, progress on this front has been limited. To address this problem and attempt to find a way to bring climate change within the meaning of Article 39, there is scope to employ the theory of securitisation to understand how the permanent members justify intervention. The narratives and underpinning thresholds and triggers that lead to the securitisation of a subject within the meaning of Article 39 must be understood. This knowledge can then be applied to climate change, creating a suitable frame to argue this contemporary peril as a Security Council matter that might better get the attention of the permanent members than past efforts at securitisation. Analysis reveals the Council could play a complementary function to support the climate framework, offering an option under explored, which may incite the international climate response to greater effectiveness.