By Sam Marrero and Emilia Garcia de la Concha
Defense Secretary Hagel's speech at the October
Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas (CDMA) highlighted the security implications of climate change. Building on the main themes at the CDMA, Secretary Hagel released the "
DoD Climate Change Adaption Roadmap" (October 2014), laying out the Department's plan for confronting the risks of climate change. A recent panel hosted by NDU's Center for Strategic Research highlighted the necessity for climate change adaption in order to avoid a security risk that affects force readiness across the entire military spectrum. The panel featured Rebecca Patton, Program Manager for Climate Change,
Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations and Environment; and Myrna I. Lopez, Environmental Security Specialist, U.S. Southern Command.
Ms. Patton discussed the U.S. DoD’s current attempts to adapt to growing environmental and climatic challenges; initiatives derived from Secretary Hagel’s 2014 Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap presented at the CDMA last month. Ms. Lopez presented a joint assessment completed by U.S. SOUTHCOM and military organizations in Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, and Trinidad and Tobago. The report assesses the impacts of environmental and energy factors on military installations, force health, and operational readiness as well as the political consequences of new or expanded military missions. The U.S. military could be called upon more frequently to support civilian authorities and provide humanitarian assistance in the wake of natural disasters triggered by climate change. Climate change is a ‘threat multiplier’ because it could exacerbate threats to stability ranging from infectious disease to terrorism. The DoD is not looking at why climate change is occurring. Rather, the DoD accepts climate as changing and looks at ways to respond across four areas; plans and operations, training and testing, built and natural infrastructure, acquisition and supply chain. DoD recognizes that internal and external partnerships are needed to ensure the DoD’s mission is sustainable under climate change. The DoD is working on creating an international response to climate change.