Mission: The International Military Council on Climate Change (IMCCS) is a group of senior military leaders, security experts, and security institutions across the globe dedicated to anticipating, analyzing, and addressing the security risks of a changing climate. It consists of a council and an expert group.
History: Sherri Goodman and Tom Middendorp announced the creation of the IMCCS the Planetary Security Conference 2019 in The Hague, Netherlands, responding to a growing demand from military professionals for sharing information and best practices on addressing the security and military dimensions of climate change. The IMCCS will formally launched later this year.
The new website can be accessed here
Core functions of the IMCCS will be three-fold:
- Analysis and Policy Development: Starting in 2020, the IMCCS expert group will publish annual World climate and Security Report assessing security risks of a changing climate and recommending applicable strategies as well as shorter briefers on key topics.
- Communications: IMCCS members will communicate before, during and after key global events, including meetings of important regional and international security institutions
- Coordination: The IMCCS will coordinate and push existing climate security networks to help maximize the effectiveness and reach of the climate-security community
In the Media: See a video of the announcement here as well as the top-tier news coverage it could gather during the conference:
- Borzou Daragahi, The Independent: From the US to the Netherlands, military leaders are speaking up on climate change
- Laurie Goering, Reuters: Climate change an 'imminent' security threat, risk experts say
- Linda Givetash, NBCNews: Militaries go green, rethink operations in face of climate change
- Interview with Gen. Tom Middendorp on Planetary Security
You would like more information on the IMCCS or want to join please contact Louise van Schaik, Member of the Executive Committee at IMCCS