This briefing paper focuses on the interlinkages between climate change, instability and the responsibility to protect, by exploring the social tensions, in terms of e.g. radical changes in lifestyle and mass migration, that could arise from climate change, in addition to describing possible challenges for national security and the military. The paper also contends that at each stage of this “process” from climate change, to socio-economic impacts and security consequences, there are opportunities for prevention, mitigation and adaptation