New Briefer: Why the U.S. National Security Community Takes Climate Risks Seriously
BRIEFER No. 30 | December 13, 2016
[UPDATE]: Climate and Security 101: Why the U.S. National Security Community Takes Climate Risks Seriously (PDF)
In 2007, former Army Chief of Staff, retired General Gordon R. Sullivan, stated:
“People are saying they want to be perfectly convinced about climate science projections…But speaking as a soldier, we never have 100 percent certainty. If you wait until you have 100 percent certainty, something bad is going to happen on the battlefield.”
The national security establishment in the United States, including the military, intelligence and homeland security communities, understand climate risks as a national security challenge, and that the United States cannot wait for 100% certainty before acting to address them. This is due to the nature of climate change as a “threat multiplier,” which exacerbates existing and pending challenges in the security landscape. (more…)
Video: Bipartisan Climate and Security Consensus Statement Release
There exists a U.S. national security consensus that climate change presents a “strategically-significant risk” and will require a “comprehensive response.” It’s an issue that the next President of the United States (and likely, many after that) will have to take very seriously, no matter their ideological predilections. In this context, we are releasing a video (below) of a bipartisan panel of senior national security and military leaders who served across the Nixon, Reagan, Bush (both) and Clinton Administrations, discussing the strong military and national security rationales for addressing the challenge. The panel includes: (more…)
Planetary Security Conference 2016: Urgency and Complexity of Climate Risks
In context of a rapidly-changing political and security environment, the international climate and security community is having its second-ever/2nd-annual international gathering from Dec 5-6, 2016. The Planetary Security Conference, as part of the Planetary Security Initiative, is the second of four planned annual conferences aimed at strengthening the growing community of practice around climate change and security across the three Ds – defense, diplomacy and development. (more…)
New Paper: Navigating Complexity: Climate, Migration, and Conflict
Photo by Oxfam
This originally appeared in the New Security Beat
By Schuyler Null, Wilson Center Environmental Change and Security Program
Record levels of displacement and accelerating climate change have prompted many to wonder if the world is headed toward a more violent future. The nexus of climate change, migration, and conflict is posing fundamental challenges to societies. But not always in the ways you might think. In a new report prepared for the U.S. Agency of International Development, Lauren Herzer Risi and I present a small guide to this controversial and consequential nexus of global trends. (more…)