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As with most definitions of human security, the focus is on security for individuals and communities – a state that is achieved when and where individuals and communities have the options necessary to end, mitigate or adapt to threats to their human, environmental and social rights; have the capacity and freedom to exercise these options; and actively participate in pursuing these options. The term cannot be dissociated from the well-being of the environment, for they are inextricably linked. Human security is perhaps the only concept that adequately captures what is really at stake in relation to climate change, biodiversity loss, changes in water access and availability, deforestation, land cover changes and degradation of marine ecosystems, among many other global environmental challenges. What is at stake is not the fate of the planet, but the individual and collective well-being of humans, both in present and future generations, particularly as the impacts of these environmental challenges on human health and well-being are complex and far-reaching. |
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