New Report Examines Gap Between Climate Science and National Security Policy

April 26, 2010 - 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, according to a report released today by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). The report, Lost in Translation: Closing the Gap Between Climate Science and National Security Policy, 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.

Download Lost in Translation here.

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.

The report will be featured at a CNAS event this Wednesday, from 3:00-5:30 p.m., on the national security implications of climate change, energy, and other natural resources challenges, featuring a keynote address by the Honorable Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change.

RSVP for the event here.

Find out more about the event here.

Following the event’s keynote address, a panel of national security experts – including David Kilcullen, Rear Admiral Philip Cullom, Robert Kaplan and Christine Parthemore – will address questions including: How will energy and water challenges in Pakistan and Afghanistan affect current operations in the region and U.S. military bases around the globe? How will competition for energy, strategic minerals, food, and water affect countries and regions of strategic importance – from Afghanistan to the Arctic, China to Yemen?