Geopolitics used to primarily be driven by security and economic concerns. However, the links between climate change, energy, natural resources and geopolitics are strengthening and becoming more complex, thus making it increasingly clear that the climate-energy-resource-nexus too is rapidly becoming a shaper of geopolitics. Key issues of our time such as pipeline politics, energy nationalism, conflicts over water, and competition over natural resources and territories due to melting ice are creating new security challenges and opportunities for state and non-state actors alike. This additional layer of complexity that is being added to an already complex system is also raising important questions: How are current developments playing out? Where will the next threats/opportunities emerge? Who will be impacted? What measures can be undertaken?

The European Cluster for Climate, Energy and Resource Security (EUCERS) is an interdisciplinary research format at CASSIS that has recognized the need to address these questions and develop possible responses in an emerging area that is quickly transforming into a central challenge. It adopts a holistic approach and employs a range of methods, both academic and practice-oriented, to produce policy-relevant research, organize discussion forums, and carry out research-led teaching. The aim is to enhance our understanding of this relatively new security dimension, make incisive contributions to scholarly debate, and generate strategic measures that can be undertaken to address the geopolitical impact climate change, energy, and natural resources can have on states, economies and societies across the world.