Climate change and rising energy prices pose new security and geopolitical challenges that require multinational responses, U.S. experts told the Feb. 1 symposium.
One issue that has started to gain recognition is the geopolitical impacts of global warming on certain countries and regions, where greater frequency of extreme weather could displace a large proportion of the population, said Peter Ogden, a senior national security and international policy analyst at the Center for American Progress.
Such impacts are already emerging in some countries, where migration of displaced people into cities has created tensions by overburdening public social services — a possible breeding ground for Islamic radicalism, Ogden noted.