Climate change affects the entire planet, said Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, and no one nation can solve the problem on its own — not even the United States. 

During the “Climate and Defense Summit of the Americas,” being held August 22-23 at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, civilian and military representatives from a variety of Caribbean, South, Central, and North American nations met to discuss the environmental challenges they face and possible solutions.

“Climate change is a global security issue, it knows no borders, nor boundaries. It respects no sovereignty, and it can’t be reasoned with,” Hicks said today, adding that the U.S. has co-hosted several events in the past several months, including in Barbados, Peru and Honduras to discuss how to integrate resilience into defense strategies and to conduct security cooperation efforts. 

“One thing is clear,” she said. “None of us can tackle the climate challenge alone. We have a better chance [of] tackling the threat when we find ways to confront it together.” 

Within the defense community, Hicks said, a top concern for officials has been securing national interests in the face of climate change effects such as heat waves, flooding and storms. 

“The U.S. national security community has been clear-eyed about these challenges for decades,” she said. “Earlier this year, the U.S. intelligence community released its annual assessment on the effects of climate change for our world, highlighting how it exacerbates risks in global health, deepens economic challenges and could lead to global unrest. We have a responsibility to act on this knowledge, adapting with common purpose to the threat that climate change poses.” 

At the Defense Department, she said, the readiness of America’s military is of primary concern. 

“We’ve taken climate change into account in everything we do at every level,” she said, pointing to the Defense Climate Risk Analysis, published in 2021, as an example of the department’s efforts to assess the strategic risks of climate change. 

“It describes how we will integrate climate considerations into our key processes, including strategy, planning and budget, and engagements with our allies and partners,” she said. 

With partners from across the Americas in attendance, Hicks said continued forums provide an opportunity to address Pan-American environmental problems and to develop Pan-American solutions. 

“Through these regional convenings, we’ve confirmed that among the shared problems that our nations face, climate change is an existential threat for all of us,” she said. “I know that each of you is concerned about climate resiliency, about building resilient forces, infrastructure and operations. You’re concerned about disaster response and preparedness, and so are we. And we’re committed to collaborating and finding common ground to address these issues with you.” 

As part of the summit, Rebecca Zimmerman, the acting assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and hemispheric affairs and Deanne Criswell, FEMA administrator, discussed how the two federal agencies work together when the nation is affected by disasters related to climate change. Both Zimmerman and Criswell praised the strong relationship between the two partner agencies, and Criswell highlighted the strong support FEMA gets from the U.S. military. 

But Zimmerman also discussed how the Defense Department and partner nation militaries can be stretched thin when helping other government agencies during climate-related disasters, and what can be done to strengthen those agencies to make them more robust and independent. 

During national emergencies that arise from climate-related crises, Zimmerman said, security forces such as the DOD, with their robust ability to develop strategy and to plan, are well-suited to step in and offer assistance to other federal agencies. 

“We have a lot of really ‘can do’ people who want to get in there and help, which is wonderful, but … sometimes that means we get out of balance with what our other responsibilities are and should be, and we end up taking on roles which are more appropriately civilian roles,” she said. 

To meet that challenge, Zimmerman said, the DOD and partner nation militaries must work to ensure civilian partner agencies are more robust and able to handle larger crises on their own. 

“I think a shared challenge is, how do we as communities make sure that our civilian partners exist  — if they don’t actually exist in every home country  — [and] make sure that they have the funding they need and that they’re able to build up the planning and operational capabilities that they need in order to be able to meet the response appropriately as civilians.” 

Another challenge, she said, involves ensuring that civilian institutions can grow and change to meet new environmental challenges. One example in particular, she said, involves those agencies that maintain and manage critical infrastructure, like water and power, which militaries depend on but don’t always own or maintain for themselves. 

“Our ability to stand sovereign and independent depends upon [critical infrastructure] being able to work when we need it,” she said, adding that the challenge involves ensuring that critical infrastructure institutions are modernized and robust and able to, for instance, keep water and power running so that militaries can continue to operate.

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