Environmental security research was significantly driven forward by Homer-Dixon's (1994 Ivanov, I., Mertig, A. G. and Bertollini, R. 2004. “Environment and health in post-communist societies: Public concerns, attitudes and behaviour”. In Future as Fairness. Ecological Justice and Global Citizenship, Edited by: Haugestad, A. and Wulfhorst, J. W. 17–45. Amsterdam, NY: Rodopi.  [Google Scholar]) studies concerning resource scarcity as a cause of inter-state conflict. His conclusion that there rarely is a causal link between the two is now widely accepted, but most researchers have not seen it as a reason to render the concept of environmental security obsolete. Instead, especially those arguing for the human security approach (Brauch, 2005 Buzan, B., Waever, O. and de Wilde, J. 1998. Security. A New Framework for Analysis, Boulder-London: Lynne Rienner.  [Google Scholar]) suggest it is all the more important to examine the environmental interactions of individuals, groups, and communities and to consider how these affect questions such as poverty, inequality, health, or livelihoods (Matthew, 2002 Nikula, J. and Granberg, L. 2012. “Civil attitudes to the environment in Serbia”. In Energy Security and Environment in the Western Balkans, Edited by: Järvinen, J. and Hakala, E. 166–183. Helsinki: Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki.  [Google Scholar]; Timura, 2001 UNDP (2007) Environmental Policy in South-Eastern Europe. Report, Belgrade: UNDP. Available at http://europeandcis.undp.org/environment/show/B341E335-F203-1EE9-BC2D83CD5B55F495 (accessed 27 January 2012).  [Google Scholar]). This has also led researchers to look beyond conflict into cooperation; either at direct cases of environmental peacemaking in acute situations, or at long-term processes of building stability, for example, through the promotion of environmental democracy and civil society activity (Carius, 2007 Deudney, D. 1999. Environment and national security: The case against linking environmental degradation and national security. Millennium, 19(3): 461–476. (doi:10.1177/03058298900190031001)[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Gleditsch, 1997 Hayward, T. 2006. Ecological citizenship: Justice, rights and the virtue of resourcefulness. Environmental Politics, 15(3): 435–446. (doi:10.1080/09644010600627741)[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Soroos, 2004 Steger, T. (Ed.) (2007) Making the case for Environmental Justice in Central and Eastern Europe. Report, Budapest—Brussels: Center for Environmental Policy and Law, Environmental Justice Program, Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL). Available at http://www.cepl.ceu.hu/system/files/ceu_teljes_pdf.pdf (accessed 25 January 2012).  [Google Scholar]).

According to Buzan, Waever & de Wilde (1998 Carius, A. (2007) Environmental Peacebuilding: Conditions for Success. Environmental Change and Security Program Report 2007, pp. 59–75 (Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center). Available at http://www.unep.org/conflictsanddisasters/Portals/6/ECP/CariusEP12.pdf (accessed 19 January 2012).  [Google Scholar]), the accuracy of the threat in real terms has little relevance; what is at stake instead is the potency of the argument. Its value is determined in an interaction in which a securitizing agent, such as a government, presents a security claim concerning a given referent object, which is at risk. The legitimacy of the argument is determined at the last instance by an audience, which either approves the claim or not (see also Williams, 2003 Balzacq, T. 2005. The three faces of securitization: Political agency, audience and context. European Journal of International Relations, 11(2): 171–201. (doi:10.1177/1354066105052960)[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Securitization has, however, been criticized for an excessive focus on argumentation and an overly theoretical inclination (Balzacq, 2005 Barnett, J. 2007. Environmental security and peace. Journal of Human Security, 3(1): 4–16. (doi:10.3316/JHS0301004)[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Floyd, 2007 Gleditsch, N. P. 1997. “Environmental conflict and the democratic peace”. In Conflict and the Environment, Edited by: Gleditsch, N. P. 91–106. Dordrecht: Kluwer Press.  [Google Scholar]), all of which may prompt more policy-oriented analysts to deem it of limited utility.