NATO and Climate Change: The Need for a More Coherent Approach
Oct 16, 2017
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Amar Causevic
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Climate change represents a non-traditional threat to international security and the future existence of modern civilization. Year after year, drought, famine, storms and flooding become increasingly frequent and destructive. Besides being a non-traditional threat, climate change impacts are a threat multiplier, reflecting a worsened ability for families to provide for themselves, increasing refugee and migration flows, and even acting as a catalyst for the spread of diseases, potentially causing or exacerbating lethal pandemics. Ultimately, increased occurrence of extreme weather patterns and major natural disasters amplify the risk of significant population displacement, and subsequent political and economic disruption. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has not been immune to the threats posed by climate change. This issue is extremely important for the Alliance because it is directly linked to NATO's operational capacity and response to security challenges emanating from the environment (e.g., preparing for and responding to natural disasters, adapting military assets to a hostile physical environment, addressing negative impacts of climate change such as climate migrants, etc.). Responsibly, the Alliance has already developed policies, frameworks and designated units responsible for addressing climate change as a non-traditional security threat. More precisely, NATO is currently trying to incorporate geostrategic implications of climate-related threats into its deliberate planning, contingency planning and crisis action planning processes. Nevertheless, the pressing question remains: To what extent is NATO capable of managing climate change as a non-traditional threat multiplier?