Why Climate Change Could be China’s Biggest Security Threat

Aug 14, 2015 | Wilson VornDick
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In preparation for the UN’s Climate Change Conference in Paris this November, the globe’s two largest emitters, China and the United States, have been pledging various actions to steer the world away from climate change-induced peril. Last year, U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed their commitment to take-on climate change. In May, President Obama reiterated that it was a national security imperative to “combat and adapt to climate change” while addressing the U.S. Coast Guard’s graduating cadets. His remarks echo Department of Defense (DoD) analysts’ assessment that climate change is indeed a “threat multiplier” and a “global problem.” These remarks were central to DoD’s first climate change strategy, the Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap, released in 2014.

For Chinese authorities, however, no official pronouncement or linkage has been made between climate change and China’s national security that is on par with DoD’s threat assessment. But the Ministry of Defense and PLA should make this a top priority because China’s long-term security and sovereignty are at stake.