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Three Climate Issues to Watch in Defense Bills this Fall
by John Conger
For many years, a bipartisan consensus has been built in Washington around the risks that climate change poses to U.S. national security priorities. Congress has passed pragmatic legislation to assess the vulnerability of military infrastructure and forces; to expand U.S. military authorities and capabilities for resilience; and to increase emphasis on the melting Arctic and new tensions between the United States and both Russia and China.
This year, however, climate issues have been drawn into tense and partisan political debates, which at the time of this publication, look like they will lead to a government shutdown. As the overarching government funding issues take center stage, here are three climate issues to keep an eye on as Congress moves defense legislation this Fall.
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We’re Hiring: Research Fellows, Center for Climate and Security
The Council on Strategic Risks (CSR) seeks to hire two team members for its Center for Climate and Security: Research Fellow (Nexus25 Project) and Research Fellow (General).
Research Fellow (Nexus25 Project)
The person filling this role will primarily support CCS collaboration with Nexus25 project partners (www.nexus25.org). This is an effort to move forward an agenda for the renewal of multilateralism in the face of the multidimensional and transnational challenges of our times intertwining climate change, food security, and human mobility. These issues are analyzed and discussed from a transatlantic perspective with key partners in emerging countries in Africa and South Asia with the goal of a strategic reorientation of multilateral partnerships within a global context.
The Research Fellow will work closely with Nexus25 personnel in Europe and the United States.
Duties will include:
- Conducting relevant research and analysis related to the project as appropriate;
- Contributing to the production of written and audiovisual outputs of the project;
- Helping facilitate coordination among Nexus25 partners, the Istituto Affari Internazionale (IAI) and the Center for Climate and Security;
- Tracking developments and contacts with the relevant stakeholders from multilateral bodies and fora, such as the UN, World Bank, IMF, G7, G20;
- Helping identify potential Nexus25 partners with specific thematic or regional expertise;
- Providing logistic and organizing support for high-level events in Washington DC and in Europe;
- Helping advance CSR’s diversity and inclusivity goals;
- Taking on other related responsibilities that may be requested from time to time.
The ideal candidate will have:
- A master’s degree in a relevant field or equivalent work experience
- Familiarity with transnational challenges and trends, such as food security, climate change, human mobility and security and/or familiarity with multilateral institutions including the EU
- A passion for addressing food security and climate security risks and knowledge in this field
- Strong writing, communication, and interpersonal skills
- A desire to work in multidisciplinary, silo-busting environments
- Comfort with a largely remote work environment
- A demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion
- Location in Washington, DC, with a willingness to travel
To apply to this position, please use the button below. CSR will evaluate applications on a rolling basis until the application deadline of September 8.
Research Fellow (General), Center for Climate and Security
This is an entry-level position focused on addressing climate security risks and solutions. The person in this role will work closely with the CCS Director and Deputy Director and other members of the CCS team.
The person filling this role will:
- Support the management and implementation of a range of CCS projects, including those related to the intersection of climate change, food security, conflict, humanitarian response, and stability. This support will include duties such as:
- Assist with substantive research and analytic writing such as blog posts, briefers and reports related to the projects
- Assist in conceptualizing, organizing and implementing public and private events, including multi-day workshops and U.S. and/or international trips
- Help manage communications and outreach to key project stakeholders and policy contacts
- Track policy trends relevant to the projects; for example by monitoring specific legislation and Executive Branch budget trends and policies
- Provide general administrative support, for example assisting in scheduling meetings and events
- Help to advance CSR’s diversity and inclusion goals
- Take on other responsibilities that may be requested from time to time
The ideal candidate will have:
- A college degree in a relevant field
- Familiarity with international security issues and trends
- A passion for advancing climate security policy and knowledge in this field
- Strong writing, communication, and interpersonal skills (foreign language or data analysis skills a plus, but not required)
- Strong project management skills or enthusiasm for developing them
- A desire to work in multidisciplinary, silo-busting environments
- Comfort with a largely remote work environment
- Demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion
- Location in Washington, DC is strongly desired
To apply to this position, please use the button below. CSR will evaluate applications on a rolling basis until the application deadline of September 8.
For both positions:
CSR seeks candidates with the vision and potential needed to become a true leader in national and international security.
CSR has a highly flexible work environment. Outside of specific meetings and events, remote working is our norm. CSR will help the right candidate develop or expand skills required for success in this position and expects there will be opportunities for future growth. CSR’s pay band for candidates hired at the Research Fellow level will be $70,000-$78,000, based on the qualifications and experience levels of the applicants. CSR’s current benefits include health insurance with employer coverage of 70% of premium costs and a range of plan options; a 403(b) retirement plan for which CSR matches employee contributions dollar for dollar up to 6% of their salary, with no vesting delay; and 21 full days of leave and 3 sick days, in addition to observing all U.S. federal holidays.
Applications for both positions are due September 8.
CSR is an equal opportunity employer. We will not discriminate and will take affirmative action measures to ensure against discrimination in employment, recruitment, advertisements for employment, compensation, termination, upgrading, promotions, and other conditions of employment against any employee or job applicant on the bases of race, color, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, political affiliation, matriculation status, genetic disposition or carrier status, or any other category protected under applicable federal, state or local law.
Feeding Resilience: A Review of Policies at the Intersection of Climate Change, Food Security and National Security Policy
A CCS Report by Patricia Parera and Brigitte Hugh
Edited by Tom Ellison and Francesco Femia
Executive Summary
This report is the first of a new initiative by The Center for Climate and Security (CCS) dedicated to shining a light on the U.S. national security benefits of addressing climate change, food insecurity, and stability together. The report begins by outlining the global state of play on food security, followed by a preliminary assessment of existing U.S. initiatives that could be scaled up to increase the impact of the government’s response to climate change, food insecurity, and national security. Currently, policies and interventions often include two of the focus areas but are rarely scoped to consider all three. Thus, this landscape assessment focuses on three current nexus areas: (1) food insecurity and national security, (2) food insecurity and climate change, and (3) climate change and national security.
Following are preliminary key findings and policy recommendations considered to be a priority for policymaking action.
Climate Security at the 2023 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund
By Elsa Barron and Patricia Parera
As noted by the 2022 US National Security Strategy (NSS) 2022, “The climate crisis is the existential challenge of our time.”
In this context of enhanced urgency on the crisis, climate change– and its interconnectedness with peace, development, and humanitarian challenges– was a key subject of discussion at the 2023 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, DC this April. Climate change creates disproportionate and adverse effects for at-risk populations and as the negative impacts of climate change intensify, they can contribute to compounding security risks such as loss of livelihoods, competition for natural resources, migration, internal displacement, political unrest, diminished social cohesion, increased recruitment by violent extremist organizations (VEOs), malign influence by state and non-state actors, and more military deployments in response to an increased scale and tempo of natural disasters.
One of the best ways to prevent these downstream impacts is to invest in adaptation and resilience in the communities that need it most. Multilateral development banks (MDBs) such as the WBG and the IMF are one resource for delivering these climate security investments as temperatures and tensions rise.
In its feature story on the meetings, the World Bank Group (WBG) notes that, “Positive strides were taken during the meetings in the ongoing Evolution Roadmap process, which is designed to bolster the WBG’s ability to confront the complicated development landscape and devote more resources to global challenges, like climate change, pandemics, and fragility.” The continued acknowledgment of these three interconnected, systemic global challenges by multilateral development banks will hopefully create important levers for climate security investments and action.
The Spring Meetings served as a progress check for the Evolution Roadmap, which, in its introduction, acknowledges that “Climate change impacts, ranging from floods and droughts to locust invasions, are jeopardizing hundreds of millions of lives and livelihoods, creating hunger, conflict and forced displacement,” and later asks how these global challenges can inform the World Bank’s core mission. The following discussions from the Spring Meetings provide important context for answering that question.
Investing in Food and Water Security
Global security hinges on water security. Dr. Nadeem Javaid, Chief Economist, Government of Pakistan, and Dr. Claudia Sadoff, CGIAR Executive Managing Director explained in the forum, “Financing for Water Action in a Changing Climate,” that water stress or water-related disasters are often the first way that communities directly experience the impacts of climate change. They argued that in addressing near-term water crises, governments and investors need to move beyond humanitarian responses alone, which are traditionally implemented after a crisis has struck.
The presenters posited that development funds can build better prediction, preparation, and resilience systems that will make future crises less devastating. Examples given in the same session include support for policy-targeted research to improve the quality and timing of responses to water disasters such as more accurate long-range flood forecasting, flood and crop insurance for farmers, stronger soil moisture management and drainage, more drought-tolerant wheat and maize, rice that can withstand greater saltwater intrusion, and solar irrigation practices that already support millions of farmers in South Asia. Systemic global challenges highlight the need to break down the silos between climate, security, humanitarian, and development actors in planning for and implementing these solutions.
Meeting Adaptation and Security Needs
In a session titled, “Pathways for Peace: Progress on Preventing Conflict,” the Danish Minister for Development Cooperation and Minister for Global Climate Policy, Dan Jørgensen, explained that adaptation to climate change and conflict prevention are a single issue, pointing to the significance of the US CNA Military Advisory Board identifying climate change as a challenge for security, nearly a decade before the creation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as global targets.
In creating climate adaptation solutions that promote peace, many discussants emphasized the importance of addressing increasing migration as armed conflict, violence, climate change, and economic shocks have increased the number of displaced people. Policy planning and financial investments related to human mobility are key to determining outcomes for communities on the move.
Some Pacific Island nations are already engaging with relocation as an adaptation measure. In a session titled, “The Imperative of Climate Change Adaptation in East Asia and the Pacific,” a representative from Fiji highlighted the inclusion of relocation as an adaptation strategy in the Climate Change Act 2021. However, relocation raises serious questions about preserving sovereignty and culture, which a representative from the Marshall Islands emphasized in a definition of security that included three components: the nation, its people, and its thousands-year-old culture. Investment in adaptation planning and consultation can equip nations to uphold this holistic definition of security.
Tackling Debt and Climate Finance
There is a direct relationship between debt and climate shocks, said Ulrich Volz, Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for Sustainable Finance at SOAS University of London at a session on “Scaling up Climate Finance in Times of Debt Crisis.” Pakistan’s extreme flooding in 2022, illustrative of climate security risks, is a warning of crises to come. The humanitarian and economic costs of this disaster include nearly two thousand lives lost, eight million people displaced from their homes, fifteen billion dollars wiped from the economy, and decades of hard-earned socio-economic gains swept away.
In this case and others, recovering from disaster can create overwhelming debt, making investments to prepare for future disasters untenable. In many countries today, addressing debt crises is a precondition for accelerating climate action. Targeted liquidity is required to enable the energy transition, adaptation to the impacts of extreme weather, and assurance of security in light of increasing future climate impacts. Multilateral development bank reform is one opportunity to reduce the debt burden for countries facing climate disasters and work towards greater security in outcomes.
The current state of interconnected systemic challenges, climate adaptation needs, and debt burdens creates an imperative for including climate security analysis in decisions relating to climate finance investments and further integrating climate, security, humanitarian, and development actors. The World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund should continue to pursue these avenues, and given rapidly-rising risks, take more significant and urgent actions in parts of the world most vulnerable to the security implications of a changing climate.