The consequences of climate change include the loss of natural resources and ecosystem services, degradation of human livelihoods and societal infrastructures, forced displacement and violent conflict. Risk multipliers can lead to social and political instability beyond tipping points that outweigh governance and adaptive capacities in vulnerable hot spots and fragile states. To prevent the collapse of societies, mitigation and adaptation strategies, technical and financial mechanisms, legal and institutional arrangements are needed to ensure human security, social resilience and international cooperation between states and civil societies as part of a sustainability transition

Prof. Dr. Jürgen Scheffran is professor at the Institute of Geography of Universität Hamburg and head of the Research Group Climate Change and Security (CLISEC) in the Excellence Initiative “Climate, Climatic Change and Society” (CLICCS) at KlimaCampus Hamburg. He is Associate Member of the Center for Science and Peace Research (ZNF) and affiliated with the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH).