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BRIEFING BOOK for a NEW ADMINISTRATION Recommended Policies and Practices for Addressing the Security Risks of a Changing Climate

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BRIEFING BOOK for a NEW ADMINISTRATION Recommended Policies and Practices for Addressing the Security Risks of a Changing Climate L PO ICY GN I EN Y E LIG CGE R E L R O S BRIEFINGE BOOK FOR A E EN F N T DEFE N NEW ADMINISTRATION I RECOMMENDED POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR ADDRESSING THE SECURITY RISKS OF A CHANGING CLIMATE HOUSE E SECURI IT ND TY H LA W E M September 14, 2016 O H The Center for Climate and Security 1025 Connecticut Ave., NW ∙ Suite 1000 ∙ Washington, DC 20036 www.climateandsecurity.org - [email protected] CONTENTS i. THE CLIMATE AND SECURITY ADVISORY GROUP (CSAG) MEMBERS | 4 ii. HIGHLIGHTED RECOMMENDATIONS | 7 I. WHITE HOUSE | 9 II. DEFENSE | 11 III. FOREIGN POLICY | 16 IV. HOMELAND SECURITY | 20 V. INTELLIGENCE | 23 VI. ENERGY | 25 ABBREVIATIONS | 26 The Center for Climate and Security 1025 Connecticut Ave., NW ∙ Suite 1000 ∙ Washington, DC 20036 2 www.climateandsecurity.org - [email protected] The Climate and Security Advisory Group (CSAG) is a voluntary, non-partisan group of U.S.- based military, national security, homeland security, intelligence and foreign policy experts from a broad range of institutions. The CSAG is chaired by the Center for Climate and Security in partnership with the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. See page 4 for a full list of participants. The Center for Climate and Security 1025 Connecticut Ave., NW ∙ Suite 1000 ∙ Washington, DC 20036 3 www.climateandsecurity.org - [email protected] I. THE CLIMATE AND SECURITY ADVISORY GROUP (CSAG) MEMBERS Admiral Frank L. “Skip” Bowman, US Navy Sherri Goodman (ret) Former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Former Director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program (Environmental Security) Advisory Board Founder and former Executive Director, CNA Military The Center for Climate and Security Advisory Board Public Policy Fellow General Paul J. Kern, US Army (ret) Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Former Commanding General of the Army Materiel Command Lieutenant General Arlen D. Jameson, US Air Force (ret) General Ronald E. Keys, US Air Force (ret) Former Deputy Commander-in-Chief, US Strategic Former Commander, Air Combat Command Command Chairman, CNA Military Advisory Board Advisory Board Advisory Board The Center for Climate and Security The Center for Climate and Security Lieutenant General John G. Castellaw, US Admiral Samuel J. Locklear III, US Navy (ret) Marine Corps (ret) Former Commander, US Pacific Command Former Chief of Staff, US Central Command Advisory Board Advisory Board The Center for Climate and Security The Center for Climate and Security General Gordon R. Sullivan, US Army (ret) Rear Admiral David W Titley, US Navy (ret) Former Chief of Staff, US Army Former Oceanographer, US Navy Former Chairman, CNA Military Advisory Board Advisory Board The Center for Climate and Security General Anthony C. Zinni, US Marine Corps (ret) Brigadier General Joseph R. “Bob” Barnes, US Former Command, U.S. Central Command Army (ret) Advisory Board Former Deputy Legal and Legislative Counsel to the The Center for Climate and Security Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Senior Advisor The Center for Climate and Security Dr. Geoffrey Kemp Former Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (1981-1985) Brigadier General Stephen A. Cheney, US Senior Director, Regional Security Marine Corps (ret) Center for the National Interest Former Inspector General, US Marine Corps Chief Executive Officer American Security Project The Center for Climate and Security 1025 Connecticut Ave., NW ∙ Suite 1000 ∙ Washington, DC 20036 4 www.climateandsecurity.org - [email protected] Brigadier General Gerald Galloway Jr., US Francesco Femia Army (ret) Co-Founder and President Former Dean, Academic Board, West Point The Center for Climate and Security Professor of Engineering University of Maryland Leon Fuerth Former National Security Advisor to the Vice President Joan VanDervort Senior Fellow Former Deputy Director, Ranges, Sea, and Airspace, The Center for Climate and Security Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Readiness) Deborah Gordon Director, Energy and Climate Program Captain James Goudreau, SC, US Navy (ret) Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Former Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Energy) Lukas Haynes Executive Director Commander David M. Slayton, US Navy (ret) The David Rockefeller Fund Research Fellow Co-Chair and Executive Director, Arctic Security Cullen S. Hendrix Initiative Associate Professor Hoover Institution, Stanford University Josef Korbel School of International Studies University of Denver Colonel Lawrence B. Wilkerson, USA (ret) Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Government and Andrew Holland Public Policy Director of Studies College of William and Mary Senior Fellow for Energy and Climate American Security Project Lieutenant Commander Oliver-Leighton Barrett, U.S. Navy (ret) Dr. Rachel Jonassen Senior Fellow Professional Lecturer and Visiting Scholar, School of The Center for Climate and Security Engineering and Applied Science The George Washington University Joshua W. Busby Associate Professor Dr. Colin Kelley Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs Senior Research Fellow University of Texas at Austin The Center for Climate and Security Elizabeth L. Chalecki, PhD Dr. Marcus D. King Asst. Professor, International Relations Director, Master of Arts Department of Political Science Associate Professor University of Nebraska – Omaha The Elliott School of International Affairs George Washington University Nancy Colleton President Marc Levy Institute for Global Environmental Strategies Deputy Director Center for International Earth Science Information Taylor Dimsdale Network (CIESIN), Earth Institute Head of Research Columbia University E3G The Center for Climate and Security 1025 Connecticut Ave., NW ∙ Suite 1000 ∙ Washington, DC 20036 5 www.climateandsecurity.org - [email protected] David Michel Nathan Sermonis Director, Environmental Security Program Executive Director The Stimson Center Partnership for a Secure America Ashley Mcilvain Moran Varun Sivaram State Fragility Initiative Director Douglas Dillon Fellow Robert Strauss Center for International Security & Law Council on Foreign Relations The University of Texas at Austin Stacy D. VanDeveer Dr. Janne E. Nolan Professor, Political Science International Affairs Professor Carsey School of Public Policy George Washington University University of New Hampshire Advisory Board Member The Center for Climate and Security Caitlin E. Werrell Co-Founder and President Christine Parthemore The Center for Climate and Security Former Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Linda Yarr Director Constantine Samaras Partnership for International Strategies In Asia Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental George Washington University Engineering Carnegie Mellon University The Center for Climate and Security 1025 Connecticut Ave., NW ∙ Suite 1000 ∙ Washington, DC 20036 6 www.climateandsecurity.org - [email protected] II. HIGHLIGHTED RECOMMENDATIONS According to the Department of Defense’s 2014 Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap, climate change poses “immediate risks to national security.” These rapid changes in the climate are already exacerbating natural disasters, water, food, energy and health insecurities, contributing to conditions that can lead to conflict, state instability, and state failure, straining military readiness, operations and strategy, and making existing security threats worse. During both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama Administrations, the security community has taken steps to prepare for and reduce the risks climate change poses to the security landscape. Given that climate change affects all aspects of the security environment – including interactions with other state and non-state threats - these actions have been necessary to ensure the United States is able to protect and promote its interests. A growing consensus exists in the bipartisan US national security community that climate change presents a strategically significant risk to national and international security, and that more comprehensive action must be taken to ensure the US response is commensurate to the risk. To save lives and money, strengthen national security, and demonstrate global leadership, a new administration must expand efforts to reduce and manage the security risks of climate change and seize the strategic opportunities presented by such efforts. The Climate and Security Advisory Group (CSAG) recommends that a new administration comprehensively address the security risks of climate change at all levels of national security planning, elevate and integrate attention to these risks across the US government, strengthen existing institutions and create new ones for addressing them. Specifically, the CSAG highlights ten topline recommendations drawn from the full recommendations below. We recommend that: The President assign a cabinet-level official to lead on domestic climate change and security issues; The National Security Advisor create a senior climate-security leadership position on the NSC Staff, reporting directly to the National Security Advisor, to help integrate plans to address climate-related impacts on national and international security priorities; The Secretary of Defense designate a senior climate change and security chief within the immediate Office of the Secretary of Defense to cover the broad spectrum of infrastructural, operational and strategic risks posed by climate change; The Chairman of the
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