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Comprehensive Human Security and Ecological Realities

C human security is a legitimate aspiration for all, and a governmental obligation to provide. To achieve comprehensive human security requires the satisfaction of both of its two somewhat intertwined components—social security (with its political, military, economic, and ethical, subcomponents) and environmental security (with its protection-oriented and utilization-oriented sub-components). Presented here are the conceptual framework and minimum requirements of environmental security. A similar treatment of social security is beyond the scope of this exposition, although the importance of equitable distribution of the resources of the human environment for social security must always be borne in mind. Components of Environmental Security Environmental security has two basic sub-components. The first of these — environmental protection —has three parts: protection from wartime and similar vandalism; protection from medically unacceptable environmental pollution; and protection, for special areas, from all permanent human intrusions. The second sub-component of environmental security — sane resource utilization, whether non-extractive or extractive — depends upon exploitation use or harvesting at levels and employing procedures that either maintain or restore optimal resource services or stocks. Exploitation of renewable resources must be carried out strictly on the principle of sustained use or sustained discard, with exploitation of non-renewable resources strictly on the principle of frugality. Serious Impediments A number of extremely serious impediments to environmental security are of biospheral or near-biospheral dimensions. These will require for their amelioration the coordinated efforts of the international community as a whole. On the other hand, it is fortunate that most environmental obstacles to comprehensive human security are considerably more limited than those in their areal extent. The region defined (delimited) by these threats to environmental security is akin to the ecological system, or 'ecosystem', tempered by human occupance, and thus perhaps better referred to as an 'ecogeographical region'. Seas and rivers with their associated drainage basins (watersheds) provide excellent examples, as do large islands and peninsulas. Many ecogeographical regions overlap one or more national boundaries. In such instances, a number of sovereign states must cooperate if they are to achieve regional environmental security. Both informal and formal cooperation are necessary, each being supportive of the other. The formal cooperation requires the establishment of a legal regime, entered into by all of the regional states, that addresses all of the various divisions of environmental security alluded to above. Environmental Security is Basic Achievement of regional environmental security will not only make a direct contribution to comprehensive human security, but can be expected to do so indirectly as well—by facilitating the achievement also of regional economic security. Moreover, the process itself will serve as an example to the international community of holistic and long-term thinking and of rationally (scientifically) based decision-making. As an example of interstate cooperation at various levels of formality, the process is also likely to serve as a confidence-building measure that will facilitate the achievement of regional political security. And, of course, regional environmental security will also contribute, both directly and indirectly, to the achievement of biospheral (global) environmental security. In conclusion, it has long been recognized that the achievement of social security is a most commendable aim. What now must be additionally recognized is that human numbers and needs have made the achievement and extended maintenance of social security impossible without a concomitant achievement of environmental security—which itself unavoidably derives from the fundamental principles of ecology.*