Increasing vulnerability of coastal military bases, an opening polar route in the Arctic, and global instability are main threats that bring climate change to the focus of the US Defense Department. Sharon Burke, Senior Advisor to New America and former Assistant Secretary for US Defense, describes how the military balances preparedness for climate impacts with challenges arising from the current US government. She hints as to how other countries can support in positioning climate change higher on the US agenda.
The video can be watched here.
"The United States military, either oversees or owns something like 28 million acres worldwide, [...] they are very important for the US forces to be ready for all of their missions, and they are concerned about the way climate change is affecting all of that land, all of those places; they are trying to understand that and trying to adapt."
The production of this video is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office and the Planetary Security Initiative.