Climate Change: A National Security Issue, Not a Defense Issue

Posted: Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Author: Elise Hogan

The Department of Defense rolled out their Quadrennial Defense Review yesterday alongside the 2011 Budget Proposal. Markedly different from the 2006 “Long War” QDR, the 2010 review focuses on rebalancing the military, prevailing in multiple simultaneous operations, and for the first time: climate change. While climate change is undoubtedly an issue of national security, it is not one of defense.

The QDR acknowledges that,“although they produce distinct types of challenges, climate change, energy security, and economic stability are inextricably linked…[and] shape the operating environment, roles, and missions that we undertake”. Citing assessments from the intelligence community, the QDR is cautious in stating that “climate change could have significant geopolitical impacts around the world, contributing to poverty, environmental degradation, and the further weakening of fragile governments.” For the DOD to champion climate change is for them to take on an advocacy role, not an insignificant development.

The QDR admits that, “while climate change alone does not cause conflict, it may act as an accelerant of instability or conflict, placing a burden to respond on civilian institutions and militaries around the world.” The genocide in Darfur is one incident of civil unrest that has been accompanied by discussion of climate change. Placing climate change on the DOD agenda has been decried by some senators as an attempt to use any viable outlet to pass a carbon emissions control program. This skepticism eclipses the very tangible reality that climate change is a national security issue, but is right to criticize its place in the QDR.

The Center for New American Security (CNAS) has traced the incorporation of climate concerns into the QDR since the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, which called for the DOD to consider the effects of climate change on all of its “facilities, capabilities and missions.” The CNAS working paper, “Promoting the Dialogue: Climate Change and the Quadrennial Defense Review,” praises early drafts of the QDR for unabashedly and explicitly linking climate change and national security, while qualifying their response by pointing out that, “the QDR process, as a concerted effort to under-stand what climate change could mean for the Department of Defense, has clarified that responding to climate change is not primarily a DOD mission.” The new focus on “crafting a strategic approach to climate and energy” in the QDR is commendable, as issues highlighted in the QDR will gain momentum for their being mentioned at all, but the answer to climate-related threats is not in the Pentagon. The DOD should be in a support role where it can recognize the importance of climate change but be less directly involved in the leadership on the issue.