UNIVERSITATEA LUCI AN BLAGA SIBIU

FACULTATEA DE TIINE SOCIO-UMANE

DEPARTAMENTUL DE TIINE POLITICE, RELAII
INTERNAIONALE I STUDII DE SECURITATE




CURS: Securitatea energetica si a mediului

Environmental security implications on human security




REALIZAT DE:
VERE LAURENIU, AN I S.R.I.



SIBIU 2014

Introduction.
The term security comes from Latin (securitas-ATIS) and has the meaning of "carefree".
By security we can understand the fact that we are protected from any danger or the fact that we
have a feeling of calmness and confidence that it is gived us by the absence of danger.
Regarding international security, initially the concept of security means the sum of the
security of all states in the system. The International Security designate "the situation when all
countries are protected from any assault, act of force or threat of force in relations between them,
or of any attempt on their national independence and sovereignty or territorial integrity"
1
. At the
beginning of the XXI century the need for international cooperation has increased, this is due to
the emergence of threats that are more diffuse and less predictable, leading to the situation where
it is necessary to redefine the concept of security. This redefinition is the result of the emergence
of different views on security challenges, this thing led to the emergence of concepts such as
collective security and cooperative security. In this context the most concept used in the security
analyzes represents the human security.
Along with political and military conflicts, poverty, environmental degradation, religious
fanaticism, migration, organized crime and terrorism are threats as relevant as military threats.
Definition of security beeing more than a military threat gives the society greater freedom to
determine what is relevant to their security and the freedom to build their own security in
accordance with their own perceptions and expectations. In this paper I will show how
environmental issues are fundamental issues of international security, with a lot of implications
on human security.
Human security has always been the attention of international opinion from Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (1948): "Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and personal
security" (Article 3); " Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is
entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance
with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights
indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality."(Art. 22)
2


1
Dicionar Diplomatic, Ed. Politica, Bucureti, 1979
2
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)- http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml#a22
The issue of human security has two aspects: first it implies the absence of danger and
hunger, illness, retaliation; Secondly, involves protecting persons against unwanted events of
daily life (illness, accidents at work, in society).
By human security is understood a phenomenon with many components: economic
security, food security, health security, environmental security, personal security, public security,
political security.
Thus human security is a concept that put the accent on persons, placing them in the
middle of actions. Human security refers to the rights of citizens to live in a safe environment
and the existence of political and social activities, religious and economic activities in every
society which defend the citizens from organized forms of violence. Directly targeting peoples,
human security includes security against economic privation, fighting for a good standard of life
and guaranty that will be respected the human rights, including freedom of expression and
association. Kofi Annan assert in 1999 that "the human being is the center of all things. The
concept of national sovereignty has been designed to protect the people. It is not allowed to see
states and governmentes affecting the rights of citizens under the pretext of sovereignty."

The Environmental security implications on human security.
World Report on Human Development from 1994 called "New dimensions of human
security" presents seven dimensions that are related to human security concept which correspond
to specific types of threats. Among them there are also environmental issues directly threatening
the existence of each person.
According to Buzan
3
, there are three categories of threats that define the environmental
dimension of human security. The first category includes threats to human civilization that is not
caused by human activity, namely earthquakes, volcanoes, floods or meteorites. In the second
category are found threats due to human activities which clearly endanger human civiliaia
pollution being the best example of this. The last category includes threats due to human activity
that seem to threaten civilization's resources namely the depletion of mineral or energy
depletion. These three categories include wide range of ecosystem issues, eating problems,
energy problems, social conflicts. Environmental problems have already affected most biological
and physical systems in many parts of the world, their effects affecting human existence,
benefiting the occurrence of unexpected adverse events.
The consequences of the most important environmental problems are particularly on the
individual as environmental disasters, a top of this disaster being conducted by Time magazine in
2010 among them being mentioned events such as Chernobyl, Bhopal and Minamata disease.
According them.Chernobyl is "most horrific nuclear disaster in history, caused by a nuclear
station.
4
" Behind the explosion from April 26, 1986, an enormous amount of radiation was sent
into the atmosphere, much higher than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Radiation headed to the whole Europe, from then thousands of children being poisoned with
thyroid cancer. Thousands of people died in the largest industrial disaster that took place in
Bhopal, India following an accident at the Union Carbide pesticide plant that led to the
elimination of air to 45 tons of poisonous methyl isocyanate. The consequences were felt in the
coming months, the number of casualties recorded is 15,000, in total half a million people are

3
Barry Buzan in Security: A new framework for Analysis, Ed. Lynne Rienner Publishers, Londra, 1998.
4
http://www.realitatea.net/top-10-cele-mai-mari-dezastre-ecologice_712208.html
affected. Even those who survived were blinded, had problems with organs, a large number of
children being born with birth defects.
Minamata disease is another negative ecological event that affected the human security.
For years townsfolk Minamata in Japan have noticed strange behavior in animals especially cats.
The cats had sudden seizures there existting situations in which them throw into the sea. The first
man suffering from this disease was identified in 1956, its symptoms including convulsions,
difficult speech, loss of motor function and uncontrollable movements of the limbs. After three
years, it was concluded that the disease was the result of industrial poisoning of Minamata Bay
by Chisso company. Manufacturer of plastic throw waste water, contaminating it with large
quantities of mercury and heavy metals entering the fish consumed by humans. Thousands of
people were affected by the disease and died.
Environmental problems do not materialize only as disasters, environmental dimension of
human security also presents as a possible bioterrorism threat. Bioterrorism is the "use or threat
of use of viruses, bacteria, fungi or toxins, microorganisms, with the declared intention to cause
illness or death of human beings, animals and plants, in order to achieve certain objectives.
5
"The
effects of bioterrorism over human security are considerable if only in the event that the number
of infected persons is big. Biological weapon is defined as "a means or device which produces
scattering, dispersion or dissemination of a biological agent including vectors of biological
agents (insects, arthropods) with harmful or lethal effects to humans, animals and crops.
6
"
There are two categories of biological agents namely microorganisms and toxins.
Microorganisms includes bacteria that produce diseases like anthrax, plague and tularemia and
viruses that cause diseases such as yellow fever. Because of the influence of external factors, the
effect of biological agents on a target population has not yet been explained. Lethality depends
on the agent and the purpose that it serves. This presumes that "plague is fatal in 90% of cases,
anthrax 80%, while other agents whose aim is to produce temporary incapacitation are lethal for
a small percentage of the target population, the sick, the elderly are predisposed to diseases. "
7


5
http://www.presamil.ro/SMM/2004/10/pag%2028-30.htm
6
Alexandru Ioan Dumitriu, Realiti i perspective ale mediului de securitate, Ed. Universitar, Bucureti, 2010
7
Ibidem
Environmental problems and threats to the human being can not be contracrate by
increasing spending to military or deployment of troops as happens in traditional military threats.
These threats to human security are very difficult to discover and it is necessary to be an
international cooperation because many of the hazards can not be resolved internally within a
country.
Conclusions.
Security both nationally and internationally, can not be analyzed solely in terms of nation
states and their interests but depends on people and their interests, implicitly of human security.
In this context, study, knowledge, and especially identifying appropriate and effective measures
to counter biological weapons is not only a requirement but a condition to ensure normal
conditions of safety and security both individually and collectively.
The importance of environmental issues and environmental threats which affecting the
society has grown in recent years, globalization plays a major role in this direction. The links
between economic and environmental events throughout the system are becoming more visible,
from "acid rain interest rate, monetary value and stock prices."
8
These are major issues that affect
a very large proportion of persones security, which is exposed to numerous risks that might
affect his life very seriously.
Consequently, the international society must develop several plans to improve the standard
of living and especially leading to the disappearance of these environmental risks. These things
will make the security of the persones to be more easily achieved. If countries will not cooperate
in order to accomplish this, peoples will not ever get to live in a state of optimal security.


8
Barry Buzan, Popoarele, statele i teama, ediia a doua, Ed. Cartier, Bucureti, 2000
Bibliografie.
1. Dicionar Diplomatic, Ed. Politica, Bucureti, 1979
2. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)-
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml#a22
3. http://www.realitatea.net/top-10-cele-mai-mari-dezastre-ecologice_712208.html
4. http://www.presamil.ro/SMM/2004/10/pag%2028-30.htm
5. Alexandru Ioan Dumitriu, Realiti i perspective ale mediului de securitate, Ed.
Universitar, Bucureti, 2010.
6. Barry Buzan in Security: A new framework for Analysis, Ed. Lynne Rienner
Publishers, Londra, 1998.
7. Barry Buzan, Popoarele, statele i teama, ediia a doua, Ed. Cartier, Bucureti,
2000.
8. Ghica Luciana Alexandra, Zulean Marian, Politica de securitate naional,
Concepte, instituii, procese, Ed.Polirom, Bucureti, 2007.
9. Neag Marcel Mihai, coordonator Securitatea uman n conflictele i crizele
internaionale, Ed. Universitii Naionale de Aprare Carol I, Bucureti, 2010
10. Sava Ionel Nicu, Studii de Securitate, Ed. Centrul Romn de Studii Regionale,
Bucureti, 2005.
11. Brown Lester R., Janet Larsen i Bernie Fischlowitz-Roberts, Politica ecologic a
planetei, Ed. Tehnica, Bucureti, 2002.