Climate change is currently one of the most important challenges faced by mankind. The purpose of this article is to give a coherent account of the scope and nature of these changes and their impact on universal security threats. The research process consisted largely of a review of the literature on the subject and an analysis of specialized, available documents and reports prepared by international environmental organizations. Climate change includes increases in temperature, changes in precipitation, sea level rise, extreme weather events and many other impacts that have enormous consequences for people, ecosystems and economies. Barriers are described that could prove to be an obstacle to implementing more sustainable development that could directly contribute to increased preventive and adaptive capacity, reduced emissions and vulnerability. The importance of adaptive capacity, which is a complex function of wealth, technology, information, skills, infrastructure, institutions and equity, was emphasized.