State Department Policy Directive: Climate Change, National Security and Conflict

On March 7, Secretary Kerry issued a policy directive to the Department of State calling on the need to integrate considerations of climate change into everything the department does. While the directive itself has not yet been publicly released, the State Department blog highlighted six priority areas. Of particular note to those interested in the nexus of climate change and security is item number seven:

VII. Integrate climate change with other priorities: Better integrating climate solutions into cross-cutting challenges, including women’s empowerment, urbanization, conflict and national security, and our own management and operations.

In context of the climate-security considerations in the recently-released Quadrennial Defense Review, it seems that the Department of State and the Department of Defense are on the same page. That’s a very good sign.

Read the full announcement here.