ABSTRACT
In simple terms, environmental (in-)security becomes an issue when the routine practices and institutions of a society exploit natural resources in ways that are not sustainable. Unsustainable societies extract natural resources too quickly for them to be replenished, generate waste on a scale that cannot be assimilated by the environment, and disrupt the normal operations of ecosystems along with their capacity to adapt to internal and external stress. In today’s world, many, and perhaps all, societies aspire to be sustainable, but they must contend with a host of insecurities related to the fact that they are not yet sustainable. This poses considerable challenges to governance, as the various forms of financial, social and technical capital needed to support the transition to sustainability are diverted to meet the more immediate demands of crisis and conflict. This, sadly, is a cycle that may be intensifying and speeding up in many of the poorer parts of the planet.
