The Hon. Robert H. McMahon, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment
It seems to have flown well under the radar (even our radar, and this is pretty much all we do), but thanks to a tip from a renowned sleuth on our team, a guide on climate change adaptation for “Natural Resource Managers” at the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has been published by the DoD, with an accompanying memo from the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment, Robert H. McMahon, that makes a very robust case for why the military, including its installation managers, must do more to be ready for climate change. From the memo:
DoD installations will experience significant impacts from a changing climate which could compromise their capacity to support readiness and undermine DoD‘s ability to protect and restore the native ecosystems needed to conduct realistic training and testing activities.
Assistant Secretary McMahon joins an ever-growing list of over 30 senior defense officials during this Administration that have publicly expressed concerns about a changing climate, despite hostility to the issue from some White House leaders.
The guide provides much-needed direction to the managers of military installations on how to implement the DoD’s overarching climate change adaptation policy in order to make their bases more resilient. The Fact Sheet on the guide states:
Over the coming decades, Department of Defense (DoD) installations will experience significant risks from climate-driven changes in the environment, which could compromise the capacity of these lands and waters to support readiness activities. To address these risks, DoD Instruction 4715.03 requires DoD natural resources managers to incorporate climate adaptation strategies into installation Integrated Natural Resources Management Plans (INRMPs) when updating or revising their INRMPs. The Climate Adaptation for DoD Natural Resource Managers guide was developed to help installation managers implement that policy.
See the DENIX site to read the full guide, the Assistant Secretary’s memo, and all other accompanying documents.
