The Defense Department is at work now on a comprehensive climate risk analysis. The directive comes from an executive order President Biden signed that calls for a full report by the end of May.
- Climate change is as important as China in its impact on national security, and there is bipartisan support for addressing it, said Erin Sikorsky, Deputy Director of The Center for Climate and Security.
- Sikorsky and her colleague Kate Guy propose that the climate risk analysis assessment must go beyond threats to U.S. military installations in bases and incorporate additional risks, including increased state fragility around the globe.
- Sikorsky said this risk assessment should be the first step, not the last, to set the stage for further integration of climate risk analysis into everything the Defense Department does going forward.