Advisory Board members and staff of the Center for Climate and Security react to climate change listed as a “top strategic risk” in the Obama Administration’s National Security Strategy:
Lieutenant General John G. Castellaw, USMC (ret): “The U.S. military understands that climate change presents strategic risks to the nation. The National Security Strategy follows that logic. Time for policy-makers to do something about it.”
Rear Admiral David W. Titley, USN (ret): “I am very encouraged to see that the Administration continues to recognize climate change as an accelerating risk to our national security. Highlighting this reality is critical; now is the time for all policy-makers to respond to this reality by further developing and adequately funding the comprehensive set of measures required to successfully manage this accelerating risk.”
Lukas Haynes: “Climate change is not only one strategic risk, as this strategy prioritizes it. Scientists have already made the case that climate disruption will exacerbate the other top risks the Administration highlights: degradation of critical homeland infrastructure, global economic impacts, new infectious disease vectors, energy infrastructure disruptions—as New York and New Jersey saw after hurricane Sandy–and impacts on the large populations and governments of weak and failing states. If governments do not act to stabilize and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they face a security risk with profound consequences like none that human civilization has ever seen.”
Dr. Marcus King: “The 2015 National Security Strategy prioritizes the risks climate change poses to vital transport, water, and energy systems in the most vulnerable nations. It highlights the urgent need for a bipartisan-consensus on climate change and national security that informs a strategy to address these risks to forestall instability and conflict.”
Francesco”Frank” Femia and Caitlin Werrell: “The National Security Strategy, echoing the Department of Defense’s Quadrennial Defense Review, rightfully identifies climate change as one of the top strategic risks to the United States. The ball is now in the court of our nation’s policy-makers to advance solutions that are commensurate to the threat.”
