We are constantly being told about threats to our national security but what is it that makes ordinary people in the UK feel most insecure? Judith Eversley reports on the findings of her local group’s efforts to gauge perceptions of human security in Bath and North East Somerset.
Community Energy: Local responses to the 2030 Climate Emergency
The UK has a vast amount to do to secure its energy supplies, cut energy usage and prices and transform its electricity production to all-clean sources. Instead of reviving fossil fuels and nuclear power, community energy entrepreneur Tony McNally argues that the government must support local solutions, including community solar and wind power schemes.
Moving the Immovable Object: Obama’s Climate Securitisation
Francesca Kilpatrick reflects on the usefulness and risks of casting climate change as a security issue, looking at the changes to climate policy under the Obama administration as an example.
Building from Ukraine: From Solidarity to Systemic Change
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has elicited unprecedented international condemnation as well as expressions of solidarity with its resisters. Richard Reeve suggests six ways that this war compels the UK, Europe and the world to take action and move from selective solidarity to global systemic change. Many people feel powerless in the face of Russia’s … Continue reading Building from Ukraine: From Solidarity to Systemic Change
After COP26: Lessons from the World Food Crisis
Will COP26 deliver the political action necessary to tackle climate breakdown? Probably not, says Paul Rogers, but the experience of the 1970s World Food Crisis suggests that its intense highlighting of the climate crisis and the inadequacy of political leadership can and should catalyse much more urgent pressure for radical change in the next few months and years.
Biden and Climate Breakdown: Too Little, but not too Late?
The United States has made a radical change in its approach to climate change since Joe Biden succeeded Donald Trump to the presidency in January. Paul Rogers argues that Washington is still doing too little but its recognition of the urgency of climate breakdown should encourage other leaders and activists to push for accelerated global action, including at UK-hosted G7 and COP26 summits.
Militarism and the Climate Crisis: The Imperative for Action
War and climate change are intimately linked, argues Brian Larkin. He explains why he and fellow activists from XR Peace blockaded BAE Systems London headquarters in 2019 over its links to the bombing of Yemeni civilians and the UK nuclear weapons programme.
Gender, Power and Human Security
At the heart of human security is freedom from the fear of harm and want, writes Diana Francis. It is something that we owe each other. Yet it is constantly denied to millions by poverty and neglect, war and famine, preventable and treatable diseases, war, oppression, discrimination neglect and individual acts of physical violence.
Seeds of Hope: Self-interest Might Save Us!
In a month of dire warnings of our potential to destroy our civilisation and planet, Andrew Rigby draws hope from the self-interested mobilisation that moved Victorian Britain beyond a public health crisis comparable to Covid-19.
Hostile Environments: The Oil Industry, Ecological Crisis and Migration
What has oil extraction got to do with migration to the UK? Birmingham volunteer worker Rosemary Crawley tells the story of one woman driven to leave her home in the Niger Delta, and her experience as she came to seek security in Britain.
Global Heating, Climate Justice and Security
We are already in climate triage, argues Sam Adelman, and the responsibility to address global heating lies disproportionately with countries like the UK with the largest historic greenhouse gas emissions. Climate justice is the new imperative.
Nonviolent Direct Action: The Committee of 100 and Extinction Rebellion
Veteran peace campaigner Michael Randle reflects on his experience with the mass movement against nuclear weapons in the early 1960s and what lessons it holds for Extinction Rebellion and contemporary nonviolent protest movements.