Council Report Argues For New Policies To Protect National Security Interests From Consequences Of Climate Change
As climate negotiators gather in Bali, Indonesia, a new Council Special Report argues that new policies are needed at
home and abroad in order to strengthen national security and reduce vulnerabilities to climate disasters.
Hurricane Katrina underscored how extreme weather events--which are expected to become more severe and more numerous
with climate change--can overwhelm civilian disaster response capabilities and become national security issues
"Domestically, extreme weather events made more likely by climate change could endanger large numbers of people, damage
critical infrastructure (including military installations), and require mobilization and diversion of military assets,"
says report author Joshua W. Busby of the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas-Austin. He argues that
internationally, climate change could also lead to large-scale refugee and humanitarian crises and thus contribute to
instability in other countries and regions.
In order to minimize the worst possible security consequences of climate change, the report--Climate Change and National
Security: An Agenda for Action--says that there are several policies the United States should support:
No Regrets: "The United States should prioritize so-called 'no regrets' policies, those that it would not regret having pursued
even if the consequences of climate change prove less severe than feared," Busby says. They include establishing
comprehensive evacuation and relocation plans in response to natural disasters, particularly hurricanes; improving
building codes for low-lying and coastal populations; and increasing water conservation efforts for agriculture and
human consumption.
Invest in Infrastructure: Minimize security risks by improving domestic infrastructure, which will not only improve disaster responses, but will
have a spillover benefit to the overall economy. "The United States should support this infrastructure investment
program and dedicate a healthy portion to 'climate proof' vulnerable infrastructure, particularly in coastal areas,"
says the report.
Risk Reduction: When natural disasters strike, the United States and the international community will be called upon to intervene. It
will be much more cost effective to support risk reduction and adaptation than it will be to respond when disasters
happen. "The government effort should begin by providing incentives for individuals and firms to reduce risk,
particularly through building codes and ensuring that federally funded disaster insurance discourages dangerous coastal
settlements," Busby says.
Climate Change Diplomacy: Engage countries such as China and India to encourage a reduction in greenhouse gases. Climate damages are likely to
exceed most governments' adaptive capacities unless a major reduction in greenhouse gases takes place before the
mid-twenty-first century. "While advanced industrialized countries bear historic responsibility for existing
concentrations of greenhouse gases, China will be increasingly fingered as a climate culprit in the future," Busby says.
"This will create a common interest between the United States and China in avoiding world condemnation for being
'climate villains.' Enlightened climate diplomacy could build on that common interest to improve U.S.-China relations."
Institutional Reforms: Integrate climate security into the National Security Strategy; create a deputy undersecretary of defense position for
environmental security at the Department of Defense; and create new positions in the National Security Council and the
office of the president so climate security concerns get the attention they deserve. "The importance of climate policy
to national security demands that it receive much greater prioritization across the U.S. federal government," Busby
says. "Other players in the federal government have largely been sidelined. There are few efforts to integrate climate
concerns into top-level decision-making."
"The policy proposals presented here...have the potential to strengthen national security by reducing U.S.
vulnerabilities to climate change at home and abroad, securing and stabilizing important partners, and contributing to
other goals such as energy security and industrial revitalization. In a world of new security challenges, forging a
climate policy along these lines must be a national priority," the report concludes.
Full text of the report, including recommendations, is available on the Council's website at
http://www.cfr.org/publication/14862
The Council on Foreign Relations is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher
dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and
students, civic and religious leaders, and other interested citizens in order to help them better understand the world
and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries.
ENDS