Climate Change and Ecological Security Must Be at the Center of Our National Defense Strategy

By Holly Kaufman, Sherri Goodman and John Conger  At a United Nations Security Council meeting in September 2021, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken asserted, “Look at almost every place where you see threats to international peace and security today…

Implementing the Biden Administration’s Climate Executive Order – The Defense Climate Risk Analysis

By Erin Sikorsky Today marks an important milestone in the execution of the Biden Administration’s climate security strategy. In accordance with the Executive Orders on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad and Planning for the Impact of Climate Change on Migration,…

Time to Double Down on DoD Investments in Platform Technologies for Combating Biological Threats

US Marines and USNS Mercy in Los Angeles for COVID-19 response, 26 March 2020 (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Alexa M. Hernandez/Released) By William BeaverThe race to create a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 has shown the world the potential of…

The U.S. Congress Overrode Trump Veto on FY21 NDAA: Here are the Climate Security Highlights in the Bill

By John Conger On January 1, the U.S. Senate voted to override Mr. Trump’s veto of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with an 81-13 vote.  A few days earlier, the House voted 322-87 to override the…

What Would a Climate-Focused Defense Budget Look Like?

By John Conger Every Administration makes changes to the draft budget they receive before it is submitted to Congress, and there’s every reason to expect that to be the case with a President Biden.  The budget is supposed to be…

Climate Security in the 2021 U.S. National Defense Authorization Act

By John Conger Both the U.S. House and Senate recently passed their versions of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, but it’s quite possible there will be a delay before a conference bill is completed.  Rather than wait…

A Climate Change Framework for the UK’s Ministry of Defence – Lessons for NATO?

By Dr. Marc Kodack The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence (MOD) recently commissioned RAND Europe to examine climate change’s effects on MOD’s activities, and its attendant security implications, to assist the MOD in creating an updated climate change strategy. This examination…

New Zealand Defence Leadership Meets with Council on Strategic Risks

On January 25, New Zealand's Minister of Defence Ron Mark, and a team of senior defense leaders including the New Zealand Secretary of Defence and Chief of the Navy, met with the Council on Strategic Risks' leadership, including from the…

NPR on Climate and Security Scenarios

In yesterday's episode of NPR's On Point, Meghna Chakrabarti interviewed journalist Emily Atkin and Francesco Femia, the Council on Strategic Risks' CEO and Co-Founder of the Center for Climate and Security, to discuss the implications of climate change for global…