April 25, 2010
Lost in Translation: Closing the Gap Between Climate Science and National Security Policy
National security policymakers point to climate change as a key trend that will shape the current and future global security environment, but do not always have the scientific information they need to plan and prepare for the security challenges it may cause. This report explores the gap between the science and policy communities and offers recommendations for how they can work together to ensure the United States can effectively plan for the national security implications of climate change.
Key recommendations from the report, authored by CNAS Research Assistant Will Rogers and CNAS Non-Resident Senior Fellow Dr. Jay Gulledge, include:
• The president should form an interagency working group on climate change and national security with all relevant interagency partners.
• The Department of Defense should establish a Permanent Advisory Group on Climate Change and National Security under the Defense Science Board.
• The Department of State should appoint climate science advisors to serve within the regional bureaus and on the policy and planning staffs.
• The academic and scientific communities should create incentives for climate scientists to research how climate change could affect national security.
Authors
-
Jay Gulledge
-
Will Rogers
More from CNAS
-
Why Stopping Environmental Crime Is a Matter of National Security
Commentary
Last week, the presidency of the Financial Action Task Force, the global intergovernmental standard-setter for combatting illicit financial threats, passed from China to Germa...
By Neil Bhatiya
-
Can Tariffs and Sanctions Lead to a Better Climate Change Strategy?
Commentary
A little more than two years since he announced in the Rose Garden that the United States was “getting out” of the Paris climate change agreement, President Donald Trump was i...
By Neil Bhatiya
-
Climate Change: The New Asian Drama
Commentary
When the Swedish economist and sociologist Gunnar Myrdal wrote his magisterial three volume study of postwar economic and political development in Asia, he questioned whether ...
By Neil Bhatiya
-
Why Abandoning Paris Is a Disaster for America
Ever the showman, President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday about his soon-to-be-announced decision on whether or not to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement with the air of...
By Julianne Smith
