ABSTRACT
This chapter offers an introduction to the main contours of recent debates about environmental security. It begins with an overview of some of the most pressing ecological issues facing humanity in contemporary political life. From here the analysis then turns to examine the way in which environmental degradation and resource scarcity have been produced as security threats in recent years. The next section interrogates the nature of the link between the environment and violent conflict drawing on research that seeks to question whether a connection can ever be made between the two straightforwardly. After a summary of arguments in favour of the desecuritisation of the environment, the discussion moves on to consider what critical alternative resources exist in green theory for thinking outside the ambit of national security imperatives.
