Abstract/Summary

It is now generally understood that impacts of climate change will irrevocably damage the environment and risk the future of human life. Despite this, it has not yet been the subject of robust, enforceable international law. Recently, discussion has turned to the link between climate change and its impact on international peace and security. It is within this link, this thesis argues, that there are options in international law to address the risk posed by climate change in more unified and binding way. This thesis is principally concerned with the role the United Nations Security Council could, and perhaps should, play in mitigating the effects of climate change, as the lead organ for international security matters. In examining this question, the thesis first looks at the link between climate change and security before considering what international frameworks already exist. Next, it conducts an overview of treaty interpretation, focussing on how interpretation may differ when considering constitutive treaties like the United Nations Charter. The thesis concludes that for such treaties there is support for a broader approach to interpretation. The central part of the thesis concluded that the risk climate change poses to international peace and security can be read as reaching the threshold of ‘threat to the peace’ in Article 39 of the United Nations Charter. As such there are options open to the United Nations Security Council under Chapter VII of the Charter. The author argues that to really mitigate the risk climate change poses to security, the United Nations Security Council must declare it a ‘threat to the peace’ and utilise its authority to bind States to take action.