12.3.7 Political Threats

Climate change mitigation is beyond the financial scope of many developing countries. A global strategy for assistance and development must be expanded significantly and should involve the G20, United Nations, European Union, World Bank, Asia Development Bank and African Development Bank. There are multiple situations in which a government has seen the erosion of popular support and legitimacy due to corruption, (Venezuela), dictatorship (Myanmar), or massive human rights violations (Syria). In the case of climate change, there is a new phenomenon to consider, which is the loss of government legitimacy as a result of the failure to protect citizens from the harsh impacts of climate change. This new form of political illegitimacy and political ‘threat’ will become extreme in the coming decades. Governments in many cases will be financially unable to mitigate climate change impacts or be predictive in terms of climate change events. Examples include the rise in cases of malaria in Laos, the eroding coastlines in Bangladesh and water crises in India. Each crisis tests and threatens the political legitimacy of these countries’ governments. Moreover, governments that have squandered public funds through corruption and mismanagement will be confronted by widespread protests and dysfunction when the severe impacts of climate change strike the population.