Sailors assigned to the visit, board, search, and seizure team from the guided-missile frigate USS Halyburton, provide water to fisherman in the Gulf of Aden. Halyburton is deployed with Commander, NATO Task Force 508 supporting Operation Ocean Shield.(photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Scott Raegen/Released)

On October 12th, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (PA), a group of lawmakers from NATO member states, passed a resolution urging Alliance members to more fully recognize climate risks and increase their foreign and national security policy responses. According to the NATO PA press release, this is the most recent step in a series of actions NATO has taken to better prepare for and respond to the security risks associated with climate change. From the release:

Climate change has been rising on the NATO agenda. As Allies observed in the 2010 Strategic Concept and reaffirmed at the 2014 NATO summit, climate change has the power to shape the Euro-Atlantic security environment, with “the potential to significantly affect NATO planning and operations.” Building on this momentum, the Allied lawmakers are now calling on NATO to take the next step and “increase the frequency of military and political consultations on climate change within NATO.”

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