Legal protection of Germany's national interests in the field of environmental security: the evolution of approaches

Abstract

It is widely recognised that climate change is having malign effects on human life. Climate change is a global issue, but the political action necessary to address it is inevitably local and national as well as international. The security dilemma is one of the most important theoretical ideas in international relations. The content of security policy is evolving because "security" is a social structure, the content and structure of which is constantly changing depending on the transformation of existing and the emergence of new threats and challenges (climate change, destruction of the ozone layer, desertification, fresh water shortages, etc. - the list of current environmental problems in the XXI century is increasingly supplemented by new threats.

Scholars, policy-makers, and activists have proposed broadening use of the concept security beyond its traditional military focus to take into account environmental threats that seriously jeopardize human well-being. This paper explores how ecological and climate problems have fundamentally changed the way we think about security. The non-physical security, diversification of threats, and the salience of identity are key effects of globalization in the security realm. These security effects translate into certain behavioral tendencies in a Germany foreign policy that have thus far not been studied in the literature.

The claim that environmental factors should be integrated into the concept of security was first made in the early 1980s.  In the late twentieth - early twenty-first century the concept of security has been expanded and applied to address many of the most important issues of international relations theory and security policy. Environmental issues are not only to be treated as non-military threats to the security of societies, but can also work to promote cooperation and peace-building. In modern conditions, the ability of the state system to respond to environmental hazards is criticized, and therefore fundamentally different management structures are proposed as a replacement for it. Therefore, targeted climate protection policies at the international and regional levels, as well as at the national and local levels, are needed to effectively address environmental and climate threats and challenges.

Germany positions itself as a regional and world leader in the field of environmental protection and climate. The idea of ​​caring for the environment is gradually becoming an essential element of the value system, legal culture and national identity of German society and the state, which it not only promotes both in the European Communities / European Union and beyond, but also consistently protects. Within the framework of the EU environmental policy, there is room for independent national action by the German government. This guarantees Germany a free choice of national strategies in promoting environmental policy.