Weatherproofing NATO's Future: Coming Considerations for Climate Security

okay good afternoon everyone and welcome to today's panel webinar titled weather proofing NATO's future coming considerations for climate security my name is Alexander Landry and I am a young fellow at The Institute for peace and diplomacy which is exhilarated today to be hosting the webinar here so today we have the opportunity to delve into a critical issue at the intersection of Global Security and environmental challenges we'll be looking climate security within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization against the backdrop of NATO's recently established climate change and security Center of Excellence we're going to explore how the alliance is adopting its mandate and strategies to address the evolving threats posed by climate change to this effect we have brought forward a talented and season group of experts and stakeholders for this discussion throughout this discussion we're going to examine the prism through which NATO views the relationship between the likes of climate security we'll speak of energy and relevant geopolitical challenges from Russia to the Arctic we'll also specifically address Canada's pivotal role in driving NATO's climate security initiatives forward including ottawa's current strategic contributions on this front so as we navigate this complex and pressing issue I encourage our panelists here to engage in thoughtful dialogue and exchange of ideas I anticipate exploring the opportunities and challenges ahead especially and considering how NATO can further mitigate and adapt to climate change in facing climate related security threats so without further Ado we're going to dive right into the discussion today I'm excited to hear from our esteemed panelists and to explore the path forward for nato in addressing these security challeng challenges so with me to discuss these topics are Pauline bodu bro shano Paul rushan and mat bu Pauline is a senior fellow at Arctic 360 a non-resident research fellow at the center for climate and security and a fellow at the conference of Defense associations Institute Bruno is a professor and director of the center for security and crisis governance at the Royal Military College St Jean and the founding president of the climate security Association of Canada Paul is a former first Secretary secretary for the Canadian joint delegation to Nato and currently an officer for climate change and security at NATO headquarters and Mater is the director of the newly founded NATO climate change and security Center of Excellence bason Montreal I'm delighted to have you all join me for this webinar with the institute for peace and aacy today thank you and welcome aboard so as a lead off I just want to set the scene a little bit in terms of domain of climate security and what the topics mean to you within the purview of your current work I know each of you have been deeply involved in climate security for some time and in many different ways as well as intersection and tangentially so importantly uh I'd like an introduction in what brought you into the world of climate security and what keeps you working within it today so I'll start with Paul please uh thank you and first of all just my appreciation for participating in the panel today I am looking forward to the discussion as much as I imagine all of your guests and the audience members are uh for me um I'll take you on a brief but quite roundabout journey and I say roundabout because there were a lot of things that brought me to the climate change and security issue but it was was uh both indirect and in retrospect weirdly inevitable um I spent a lot of my early career immediately after graduation working with NOS on environmental rights issues in Conflict affected States um Burma and Nepal and eventually started doing some work managing sustainable agriculture in darur uh during the the Civil War there and focusing on how conflict affected communities view environmental issues and it's funny as I imagine everybody on the panel agrees once you start thinking about these issues once you start looking at security and environmental terms you never really stop and so even when my career led me in a different direction for a decade or so into first diplomacy and then deterrence and arms control I still found myself always thinking you know how is the environment affecting the incentives of the different actors what's the climate piece of this deterrence and land conflict issue what are the trade-offs and the hidden challenges that are linked to the environment because that's the way you start to think when you start looking at these issues and and end result of that was that I went back to school to get a master's degree in the subject and when nato in 2021 really massively increased its ambition on climate change and agreed the climate change and security action plan and and has been building on it in the years since I by happy accident happened to be within the organization and had spent many years thinking about how climate and security intersect with each other um not just in the environments that I've been working in in in the Sahel and elsewhere in so-called vulnerable or fragile States but how it affects European security and the countries that we think of as being less vulnerable so I as said by happy accident was here when NATO really built up its ambition I've had the privilege of coming over to contribute to the work and to be honest and to answer the the question about what keeps me in this area it's it's really simple and I think it'll come as as we go forward it's just the biggest and the most complicated and yes the most fascinating security issue in the world climate change and security there's nothing like it because everything else is tied into it and so for me I wouldn't want to work anywhere else any other area of security policy thanks thank you Paul I do appreciate that and I can definitely understand the mention of fragile States and the different areas that climate change does affect uh speaking to that I know that um Pauline is is very well uh implicated with the Arctic discussion for that so Paul and I'd love to hear a little bit about uh yourself and what brings you to climate security thank you Alex uh good morning or afternoon to everyone and and thank you also for the invitation Alex it's a it's an honor talking about this topic today and and sharing this panel with um such esteemed colleagues so I'm really looking forward to the discussion too um so for me my first professional background was for about 10 years in uh human rights and migrations so Refugee law and in particular I worked as an analyst for the French jurisdiction processing Asylum claims uh which was my day-to-day work for like more than five years and um in this context I can saw firsthand um through the many Refugee stories that I was reading and hearing um every day how climate change affects and shapes um in many ways many complex ways uh the reasons why people need to leave their country really the rational that leads uh them to make this decision uh because their their livelihoods have been affected or because of you know security risks per se so that is really what brought me to wanting to study this Nexus a little more uh the climate and security Nexus so first through this prism of climate migrations um and then I also connected it uh to my other research interest uh which has been the geopolitical and security dynamics of the Arctic which sounds remote from migrations but it's it's not and and it's connected in many ways um and and I really wanted to understand the climate security and access there to uh both because Arctic security itself is uh I mean has been at the Forefront of discussions as we know um it's been um it's changing very rapidly and and but also because of the Region's extreme vulnerability to climate change too too uh which I mean it's distinct but also interconnected so I've worked for a few years in the policy World on these topics uh for different things T and I still do um and more recently I've also studied a PhD as Bruno knows because he's my supervisor um and uh to compl this policy perspective uh that I've developed with a more academic um perspective so what keeps me working uh on climate security is that that opportunity to build on this uh these different perspectives that I've developed throughout my young career and integrate my experience in human rights into my research um particularly looking at how climate change affects human security uh which I think is is still an overshadowed topics uh in the climate security um conversations and how these impacts on human security are actually very much interconnected with more traditional threats on National Security they actually mutually feed each other uh and and yes and it's also very excited to be you know working on these topics now uh because there's a real impetus uh with NATO's climate security efforts and and you can really feel that the the climate security community and work um are expanding and diversifying so lots of new ways to look at it and lots of new platforms to advance work on the topic great thank you so much and the mention of human security is one I hope we can further discuss um later in the panel um your mention of NATO's obviously growing interest in climate security is Big um so I'll pivot here to Mater because quite frankly he's one of the major reasons we're here for the webinar today with the Casco Foundation essentially in growth so mat I'm I'm very excited to hear about your entry in climate security and what's keeping you in it outside of CCO itself yeah thank you Alex thank you for the invitation and and the great introduction and and uh I I I think you have a a nice uh uh set of of presenters and panelists today because we are all dealing with the same issues but we have slightly different backgrounds and in my case I've been in the defense policy world for 20 years uh and I've been a little bit everywhere I've been to Nato uh working with Paul but also went to operational commands uh as well as n as the uh National Defense headquarters in Ottawa and you know climate and environment has always been part of of our work in the in the defense uh policy realm U maybe a slightly different approach back then but you know we were looking at oh the Canadian Forces and Armed Forces in general are responding uh to climate related uh incidents and events and how we're supporting civilian authorities in in dealing with them uh less perhaps about adapting or mitigating the effects of climate change uh but nonetheless this was Central to our discussions uh you know in operational commands you know the impact uh that responding to these events have on Readiness of forces and the kind of equipment that need to be procured to be to to to give the forces not only the chance to to be of service to the society but also to be able to do their the the the job they're actually paid for which is uh you know Warfare uh so a lot of questions over the last decades about this and and the questions that we're facing right now are not are not that different from from the same problems we had uh earlier but uh what's different is is and I think Paul mentioned that you know the urgency since 2021 you know the climate security issues really went an hyperdrive anyway in the NATO context and that's why today I'm in this position as as director of of the center of excellence on climate change and security uh I've been in Brussels for the last four years you know participating in putting this project on rail uh and also making sure that all other activities at NATO have a little bit of an inject on on climate security but for me uh going forward I think we're at you know we reach a state of normality and and maybe it's because I'm I'm talking about climate security every day and and climate change pretty much every day but you know the impact of climate change I think is undisputable uh our our societies are changing we are asked as individuals to adapt and mitigate the impacts of climate change legal Frameworks are are put in place the industries have to to follow them um you know there's there's big uh deep political commitments uh throughout uh the International Community to to face the challenges of of clim change show it's only natural for for the defense institutions and the Armed Forces uh to do the same so for me we're we're we're in the normal transformation pattern and I certainly hope that the the center uh will be able to uh to support and help in in this transformation great thank you very much for that um and it's great to see uh especially like with the growth of the Coe and what not uh specifically it being Montreal to and tangentially to that obviously um we've brought Bruno aboard as a panelist here the founding president of the climate security Association of Canada also in Montreal Bruno welcome aboard and I'm excited to hear a little bit about um your background and and what brings you Into Climate security as well outside of just advising for Pauline's PhD thanks Alex uh thank you for an invitation opportunity I'm very happy to be uh with you and my colleagues here today um well in my case I guess I've always had like a personal interest in environmental climate issues but never worked professionally on it until the 20171 18 my professional I guess my PhD thesis on West African conflict Dynamics and international intervention and back in 2017 18 I started noticing a rise of narratives about climate change and Security in the Sahel was very intrigued by that what was happening there was coming from very specific places like especially from Europe um about the sahal and so it got me really thinking about uh trying to figure out why suddenly in 2017 18 think people were interested in connecting climate change and conflict in this AAL and so I started writing climate Sciences I reading climate science more you know thoroughly uh um as much as I could I read everything I could like and like PA said once you start you never stop you never stop thinking about these things and so I I almost immediately made that decision that my my research um and work in the future would uh be about climate change and and and obviously things connecting it to security humanitarian um emergencies and so on so forth as I was doing in the sahal and so that led me to try to organize a conference 2019 That was supposed to happen early 2020 but then Co happened so but that was sort of a ly thing because once uh we we were able to do with Canada had announced and NATO had announced Casco so it sort of gave us a little bit of momentum and and we made new friends and whatnot and and uh last year as you know we we launched also the seesack so the climate security Association of Canada which is to us uh me and K colleagues a platform or an association bring people together a community uh uh that that wants to discuss these issues because basically uh I think there's much to be done there especially in Canada to bring up uh and bring people together uh support students and newcomers like well newcomers she's been around for a while ping but for certainly for the Next Generation uh uh uh to talk about these issues and work on these issues and to me it's quite obvious what obvious why we I keep working on it uh because it it it needs to be done there is an urgency I think we we shouldn't um shy from saying it we it needs to be done it needs to be done yesterday so there's a lot of work to be done and I I'll do my best to contribute to to the effort okay thank you um and really as a followup to that speaking to that security piece it's evident that everyone does come from different backgrounds but it shares common themes in terms of approaches to climate security and I'm glad met mentioned that um so to provide a little insight to that based on experience Pauline could you speak to us a little about the intersection about CL climate change and security threats as we see them today I know we talked about fragility of states and you mentioned human security I'm interested to hear your piece as a followup to Brunos and then we'll speak more a little bit about the alliance specifically sure so thank you it's it's actually an interesting question because it may sound like you know it's the very basis of the climate security work uh understanding this interaction uh between climate change and and security uh yet not everybody agrees on the answer um not on the fact that the physical impacts of climate change are real and and that they have security consequences this is pretty well established not debated at least within this climate security Community uh but what's debated is is the scope of this security impacts uh which impacts should be prioritized and the framing we should use uh when talking about them and um one reason for this is that there is a lot of uncertainty about what the security risk landscape I mean will look like in the future um and these climate security risks are also very different from from one geographical area to another uh and they also depend on the time scale that we're looking at um the answer varies if we're speaking shortterm medium-term longterm um and finally the level of risk will also ultimately depend on the efficiency of the efforts that we are as humans are willing to make you know uh the efficiency of our own policies uh both to mitigate our climate impact and to adapt to these impacts um and and these last parameters which are like contingent upon uh Human Action and policy efficiency are also very uncertain um uncertain sorry um but beyond future risks uh to still answer your question uh we're obviously already witnessing very tangible security risks from climate change today and we've been for a while uh the primary impacts are on human security um because climate change profoundly affects the health the Liv hoods food water security the culture uh of many communities across the world and and then from a security and defense perspective which may be of especially of interest to Nato um in particular climate change is reshaping the very operational and strategic environments in which um within which military forces operate um first it affects military bases and infrastructure due to sea level rise Wildfire storms um extreme events which threaten installations and undermine military Readiness and this is not new this is something we've been witnessing for a while um both um domestically so I work for um us-based thing chank the clim the center for climate and security and they've been working on the topic for for years now how um bases need needed to be completely rebuilt after um some some hurricanes and and and others are are sinking um you have the nor base uh which is like one of the main asset within the US and and also for NATO which is sinking uh due to cev rise and Coastal erosion so that's a huge challenge um and climate change is also changing the nature of the missions and the frequency of military operations um with troops that are increasingly deployed to respond climate related disasters also both domestically and abroad so this is really straining uh troops and and affecting Readiness and then um climate change also contributes to shaping the geopolitical landscape and and this is perhaps the most debated of all these points as to the exact role that climate change is playing in geopolitical Dynamics um it might exacerbate the risk of conflict by compounding pre-existing local vulnerabilities it's not acting you know in a silent way um so it's really compounding local vulnerabilities but there are also more sophisticated threats which can take many forms like the risks of geoengineering techniques what they can bring and and how to govern them uh on a global level or the weaponization of climate disinformation by um information and disinformation by some countries which can destabilize or discredit others so these are um I mean both you know anticipatory risks like when we do climate foresight we think about these risks we try to integrate these risks in war gaming I mean ideally um but but this is also it's not only in the future it's also trends that we're increasingly uh witnessing so so to refer to these impacts of climate change on on security risk the framing that has commonly been used um by policy makers um originating from the US and then and then which is also used uh by NATO and has become a kind of working definition for climate security is that climate change is a threat multiplier uh which means that climate change has the potential to interact with other pre-existing security risks and drivers of instability and to exacerbate them um and it's a term that has largely participated in framing how we think about these issues um by high highlighting the very systemic nature of climate risks um and to move away from Silo thinking really acknowledging that all of these are like actess and more traditional threats are interconnected and it has guided the creation and emergence of the climate security Community uh it has contributed to advancing the progressive interaction of climate change into military planning um but the the term also has its critiques so as we're advancing you know in how to think and address um like the these risks um especially in Academia you have also and that's very interesting you have conceptual developments because this term threat multiplier is seen as putting too much emphasis on traditional security Concepts not enough on on the human Dimension um it's debated it's debatable um perhaps also not on not enough emphasis on the need to curb military emissions uh so yes you have new conceptual developments emerging to help frame the topic um and debates and some of which put a stronger Focus not only on the security of States from climate change but also on humans and of ecosystems themselves and and on the need to you know understand specific contexts uh at the local level to guide policy action um so yes this is like where we are now kind of on the understanding of this climate security Nexus of course thank you for that uh quite detailed rundown and I'm really glad you've mentioned mitigation adaptation um as well as where the security uh dilemma really comes into play now um so obviously NATO is a big part of that and the climate security Community has now been rising within NATO so I'd like to hear from metser and Paul respectively specifically from uh Center of Excellence but also from NATO HQ um of where NATO comes into play as an alliance on climate security and kind of how we're moving forward uh in terms since 2021 specifically on those lines of effort I'll let ball speak speak first I think the the the NATO aspects are fund foundational to to what we do here at the center so think for uh for people listening in that will help put things in context thanks mat you and thanks to Pauline for uh for a very useful Foundation that really will I think inform the rest of our discussion um look the the language that NATO used to describe climate change is out there in our 2022 strategic concept which sets out the mission of the alliance we called it a defining strategic challenge for defining security challenge for the 21st century which it absolutely is but that's kind of a necessary but insufficient framing all by itself because we have a world full of enormous security challenges we have the Russian invasion of Ukraine which has really upended our understanding of what conflict in at least in the Euro Atlantic area looks like in the current century the threat of terrorism and asymmetric Warfare and risks tied to instability around NATO's periphery that hasn't gone away it's still one of the core threats that we attempt to address we have the disruptive effects of innovation and cyber conflict and we have the rise of strategic competition including with China and I do often get asked that against all of these challenges why is NATO paying attention to climate change um which thankfully I do get that question less and less but there's a very good answer and that's because climate change affects all of those issues both what they look like and and how they behave in the world and how NATO can respond to all of those different security challenges because fundamentally it's making the world more dangerous in all the ways that pulin has described and we as a security focused Alliance have to respond to the way that n that climate change is making fragile and vulnerable places more fragile and more vulnerable particularly through the intermedi mechanism of its effects on human security and livelihoods it also makes our operating environments for NATO forces and our equipment uh more difficult our forces are operating in hotter drier dustier environments environments more affected by extreme weather and that's affecting their ability to do their jobs and as Putin has mentioned they're increasingly called upon to respond to natural disasters and support humanitarian assist and disaster relief efforts even as they are also building up our deterrence and defense posture to counter the threat posed by Russia um it strains our critical infrastructure both military and civilian and our supply chains in ways that make it harder to ensure the prosperity of a civilian economy and the effectiveness of a military operation just put simply it makes everything that we at NATO do as a military Alliance harder and so dealing with climate change understanding it adapting to it mitigating it mitigating our contribution to it is not a distraction from Global Security challenges it's an investment in our ability to deal with those challenges and the ability to ensure that our troops remain effective that our deterrence and defense posture remains credible and sound and that's the ambition that the Allies have really laid out for themselves in 2021 when they agreed the NATO climate change and security action plan and as they've continued to reinforce it and up our level of ambition since then in the interests of time I'll only covered that very briefly but we agreed to ourselves that we'd have four pillars of our action plan one is understanding climate change and its effects on our security two is adapting to it particularly adapting to the effect that it has on our military forces and the resilience of our societies third is mitigating it reducing the military footprint in greenhouse gases and fourth is all of our Partnerships and outre work everything that we do with our huge network of partner countries and international organizations and Industry and Academia we've continue to amplify this work and look for ways to really mainstream it into the foundation of all of our military and political activities um I'm happy to get into that in some depth but I think this is a fantastic point for Matthew to uh to speak to the ways that the center is beginning to support the work of NATO as an institution and its network of participating countries mhm thank you Paul just took notes not to let you speak first anymore um so just to clarify and and I'm happy to talk about Casco and its role uh you know later in in in in this webinar but one thing's for sure is that you know we're not I'm not representing NATO I'm I'm representing 12 Nations that have decided to to put their resources together to develop a specific expertise to on on climate change and security so as much as I am trying to help NATO Enterprise and not only at HQ where where Paul live but also at you know Allied command transformation in Norfolk and Allied common operations in shape uh we are an independent organization that is being asked to support Nations and and NATO and in defining uh the challenges that are related to climate change and and you know one of the things that is is clear to me is that this should not be taken in in Silo and I know that when we have those webinars and we're all talking and specifically talking about climate change and climate security it seems like we are trying to separate it from the bigger picture and as Paul said from our perspective anyway you know this is this is part of the mix uh there are other priorities there are short-term priorities others that are longer uh in time and and you know I talked about the transformation efforts in the introduction and I I I think that's that's the point that needs to be drilled in is that we will not uh convince political leadership and Military leadership to treat climate change or climate security as a as a one-off as a standoff from all the other issues that they have to deal with so the importance for for us is making sure that the points that were raised uh by poine and and Paul specifically you know be included in the bigger uh picture as you know as we did several times in the past uh that when we transform our military tools or uh and and institutions we take in consideration uh some of the challenges that are brought by by climate change and um you know uh Paul talked about uh our platforms he talked about our infrastructures but you know there's I think the scope is even W wider than this you from our perspective it does affect uh both the Tactical operational and strategic levels at the same time but differently you know the Tactical the soldiers on the uh the deployed on operations do feel the impact of climate change uh they do feel it differently from the commanders that are taking decisions from a military plan perspective and they definitely take it uh uh feel it differently from the Strategic leadership that take big decisions on on resources and Acquisitions over the long term so all these things we hope we can analyze and take the best uh of the behaviors that have been uh noticed uh witnessed T about analyzed recently and in the future and be able to share that knowledge with uh with the rest of the community I would also talk about the the processes because and and you know NATO has a bunch of it Nations as well and in our discussions with our sponsoring Nations we've we've understood that they're already thinking about how to inject that climate security aspects into the way they develop their uh you know criterias for acquisition of of of different type of equipments but also on the way that they're training and educating their uh their personnel and that's where also we hope that the center can be of added value uh we uh we have you know what uh in the military par we have doctrines and and standards uh that all are really the foundation of of how the the military operates and that's that's one of the things that we will look at and again it's not to develop a a parallel uh thinking on on how to approach climate security but make sure that we inject at the right time at the right level uh the right information to ensure that when we transform our own forces uh to deal with the challenges of the future and not only the ones that are related to climate not the ones that are only are ex exacerbated by climate but others as well that we we uh were fully cognizant uh of of uh the the impact of of of climate change and be deliberate which is not always the case uh when we've seen the transformation Cycles in the past but deliberate on the way that we're preparing our forces for the future um one of the the recent discussions I had was with the the medical team in the Canadian Arm Forces and that's also very very interesting uh discussions because the individuals within our ranks are also deeply affected uh by uh by climate change we're talking about you know the um I was talking about the role of assisting civilian authorities well this is is more and more frequent and more and more pressure on on the the women and men in the armed forces uh it changes their cycle of training it changes their cycle of of of preparing for what they thought uh was their job and now it's it's something different it puts additional pressure as I said on on redness levels and it creates uh also uh different kind of um working and operating environment not only from a psychological perspective but also from a very physic physical perspective where you know some environments are are warmer uh but also you know there is different uh injuries that you could that are related to to to a changing uh operation environment so you know these are the the questions that we certainly will look at uh in the course of our work here at the center um and we could go as uh as as wide or as narrow as as we want depending on again uh the requirements that are steaming out of the work that is being done by Paul at NATO but also in our national capitals and and and defense headquarters on on how they want to on one side adapt to the changes of of climate change but also and I think we've we've raised it but maybe not enough how do we want to mitigate and and reduce the carbon footprint of of uh the activities that are related to uh to the military it's not only uh coming up with new technologies that will reduce uh the uh the emission uh but it's also changing some of our ways on of doing business you know the the military is a is uh we we hear of no fail missions and no fail missions uh generally do come with No Boundaries on resources and uh support and maybe now it it's time to have a a a more realistic look on on how we deal with our logistic chain and how we actually inter operate between uh each other especially in the NATO context so a lot of things to to talk about uh and and I'm uh I'm really excited about the the next few years and as buo said yeah there is a factor of of urgency uh to it uh but we also have to be cognizant of uh their own uh limits of of what a governmental instrument can achieve uh within the time frame that is given to us so you know I'm really looking forward to to talking more about this not only in this webinar but in all the other platforms I'm I'm participating in of course thank you um and I'm really glad that you make that distinction for CCO specifically in terms of support to Nato and not as a NATO entity per se um because I think that that's one that uh can be misconstrued quite often and it's important to understand like the whole larger Community for climate security um and definitely as you mentioned this uh know this forms the basis for conferences and discussions and workshops and working groups um more than just the the one- hour webinar we do have today um that being said one of the Nations that is partaking obviously is the framework Nation for CCO recently established it in Montreal and that's Canada and I'd like to hear from Bruno um on what Canada's role in The Alliance is specific to climate change um and this is also part of the finicki uh piece of the webinar here where we kind of pivot off course a little bit because after that um Paul's going to speak to us a little bit how NATO is going to look to institutionalize climate change and security more across the alliance moving forward so Bruno the floor is yours thanks Alex well I I'm not speaking of the K government just to be clear here of course thank you uh first I I I think um many people have been working on climate change for decades as I'm sure the audience here knows uh but the field of climate security and by that I mean the academic field of climate security but also policy space space is very young so I think that it's important to say that these are very early days for the practice of climate security and there is so much to do and in my opinion as well there is very limited um certainty or agreement about where to do a prioritize the work so I just want to state state that uh to start with and and two challenges I think make it even harder uh very quickly climate literacy um I I see it on a regular basis what I mean by that is the the the basics of what climate change is before you talk about security consequences you need to know a bit about climate uh change per se I think that's changing it will definitely change uh and evolve very quickly especially with Casco I hope anyway uh but it's still a challenge in some circles and the other challenge I would say is and Paul and both both Paul and mat here and Pauline have sort of pointed at it and you've probably all read that concept these days the poly crisis so it is intertwin climate change is intertwined with all sorts of other crisis going on out there so the the shortterm crisis management versus the long-term implementation uh issues and strategy that is needed for our climate uh security I think sometimes can Collide and we need to figure out a way to make them work together um so so these to me changes are important they in the line uh because while I think climate change transforms everything it's not helpful to say that from a policy or practical perspective and so for organizations like NATO or the keing Armed Forces or Global Affair scand for instance I think they're still trying to figure out how to integrate and operationalize climate security so there is now a recognition that climate change affects security but it's actual practical if you will means what does that actually mean for policy and for for government action is something else what does it mean to do and Achieve climate security how to institutionalize it and the answer also cannot be uh Universal cannot be the same for the Kean Armed Forces for Global Affairs Canada government Canada or for NATO for instance so with that in mind what can Canada do and uh with and within the the alliance well the first step I think is was Casco um I think that the establishment of Casco is is one giant step in the right direction I think uh the center already has created all sorts of momentum in all sorts of places I see it uh mainstreaming at the very least the discussion about climate security and also already creating collaborations and Building Bridges between different actors and communities and I suspect that this will grow up obviously and I I think that if Casco can serve and I I I think it will mat me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure that's the the objective here if it can serve as a hub for research training ucation all things related to climate security that will already be a very significant kedan contribution to to the out Alliance and so on this basis Canada Canon should have an essential impact here NATO's climate security agenda if only because it is the leading Nation uh behind uh the Casco however beyond that I think that Canada will need to lead by example uh what I mean by that is the government of Canada will need to mitigate and adapt to climate change uh I think we will Canada will need to insert climate security into all sorts of other things like it's foreign policy defense policy and so on so forth what does that mean inserting it I think that's the key issue what does it mean to integrate climate change change into foreign policy or defense policy uh is a key question um and arguably uh not much yet has been achieved as far as I'm concerned there are positive signs like uh the defense climate sustainability strategy that was published last December that seeks to organize activities around climate action and environmental sustainability uh the latest defense document of course our North strong and free emphasizes the challenges of clim change I'll be with a focus the consequences on for the Canan Arctic um I think the test will be to turn these words into action these documents into action to implement the strategies that are identified in these documents uh to achieve climate security a a and I think that this is where Canada could play the biggest role within NATO show how it's done how to do climate security and it's really by doing it that will Define what climate security is so I mean I'm sure you're aware and we'll probably talk about it a lot this coming summer uh but forest fires and Disaster Response in Canada who should do it K Armed Forces obviously uh are are are spread tin here and the increasing demands to respond to such things like the the forest fires last summer and you know what's coming this summer I think should uh definitely be addressed then very quickly of course thank you for that and and Canada also does contribute of course to the different pieces like the compendium of best practices it's looking at the collection of Alliance wide efforts on climate change adaptations things like Energy Efficiency sustainable technology and Innovations for climate related capability requirements um you know we've seen presentations and there's been discussion at large before on the greenhouse gas emissions mapping and analytical me methodology and that's a piece and it's following up with a a question actually from the chat that we had about AI new technologies but that being said leave it to the expert and I'd like to hear uh from Paul a little more on that and institutionalization of uh climate change and security within NATO specifically um understanding that as a cur a little bit for you here on this platform no problem so the great thing about you know talking about what our next steps can be is that it's already underway and there's a lot that we're doing to institutionalize its work and the bad thing is that there is a lot to do and this is going to be the project of many years but I suppose that's what it is when you're facing an epocal security challenge when you talk about institutionalizing I think what we really lean on is mainstreaming and that's the idea of how we begin to incorporate climate considerations into every relevant part of what this Alliance does which basically means everything that we do and that means how do we bring climate considerations into our exercises military exercises and our training and showing the way that climate is going to affect operational decision making um how do we affect and and I think um mat was pointed towards our standards work how does it affect the technical and material standards that we have for example for how in air refueling is supposed to work or how this seal on a medical tent is supposed to work and how is that going to change in a hotter drier dustier environment for example our doctrines the ways that our military strategies are translated into operational guidance for forces in the field are going to have to adjust to the new environment and the way we plan and procure our defense capabilities needs to reflect the new operating conditions and rather than dive into specific examples of what all of that means I think what I what I drive at is you need an understanding always of how to make all of those things relevant to the exact person that you're talking to and how it ties into the mission that they are tasked with accomplishing certainly that's the way we look at it at NATO I think Matthew had the right of it when he said you need to get the right invo at the right level at the right time and that is absolutely the case for us so for example look at a a helicopter pilot who is flying in the context of say nato Mission Iraq who finds that her Chopper doesn't get the lift it used to because hotter air supports less lift for rotary Wing aircraft or a a CBR soldier who is used to wearing a full body protective suit but that's hot and difficult to wear under the very best of circumstances and now they're expected to wear it when it's 37 degrees in torrential rain um or a liaison officer in a field mission who is seing the impacts on human security from climate change and the communities that they're supposed to be working with and when we say you need to mainstream climate change it means you need to zero in on what each individual portion of the alliance each Mission each operation domain each Soldier each person has to do to accomplish their mission and then look at how climate change is making that harder and look at how you can support them in adapting to those challenges and continuing to fulfill their objectives and that's going to mean training and exercises doctrines standards equipment awareness across every imaginable level I don't want to neglect the mitigation piece we've launched an ambitious mitigation program called the energy transition by Design which is meant to both align us with the ongoing green energy transition and help our militaries adapt to it it's absolutely critical um these are between the two of them mitigation and adaptation two parallel intertwined and yet very distinct lines of work that have to be mainstreamed across everything that we do thank you oh thanks Paul it's it's key and I think um the discussion and development of the actual lessons learned that we've uh we've just discussed there that you actually outlined there really good because it Fosters into the actual um you know concrete examples that um are part of the discussion it's not just the theoretical and the academic piece um which really puts it into place and and provides that framework for us to understand it especially from a tactical military level I'm seg from that though um just as we as we do near the end here I'd love to hear from at a little bit more about cas's work leading into the Washington Summit this year uh and what uh the next little while looks like for Casco as it gets off the ground here at FOC no thank you Alex um so obviously we're a very young organization we we we started and and we're still you know technically uh in initial operating capacity if you if you will um we started in in October last week last year uh in dval and we were three and now we're 14 and hopefully by the end of the summer uh we will uh reach our full operating capacity and and uh at maturity the center is is set for the three positions uh half of them being from sponsoring Nation so we're talking about families and and and Personnel that are coming from other countries to uh come and be located in Montreal with us and in our offices so uh quite the multi cultural environment uh just like uh NATO is um so in the last few months obviously there was that standing up necessity putting you know literally the physical space together uh and we've been doing that most of the time but you know a a center like this also requires a good foundation administratively and that is like a Old Slew of procedures that go from Safety and Security to human resources to travel procedures so we've been putting that uh together for for the past few uh few months but the other thing that is very important for us is to be a accredited uh center of excellence and we're still not there yet we're weeks away hopefully from from that but it gives us you know we're not alone there's 29 other Center of Excellence uh across that that Network that work on on specific issues which some of them overlap too uh Paul talked about energy security well there is a center of excellence on energy security and this is probably one of our closest uh friends when it comes to future work because as Paul said you know the deating pillar of of the action plan uh all you know a lot of it its activities will follow on the energy security and how to uh to come up with new ways on on transitioning uh to new sources of energy um so a lot of collective work here uh with with others and there was that reaching out as well that we've done over the last six months not only to Coes but also uh T tanks uh academic institutions because one of our responsibilities is to develop or support training and Educational Tools uh governments and you know we talked about Canada but in our group of 12 Nations we have uh we have four of five of the seven G7 Nations so UK France ourself Germany and Italy are part of that group and they have been extremely active recently on on defining you know their approach from a defense perspective on on on climate change energy security and the likes so there's a lot to learn there as well and for us as bro said our mission is is it's not to reinvent the wheel uh there's a lot of good work that has been done at several levels uh from as I said tactical operational and and and strategic we have the you know the ccoms the in the US that have been working on on the impact of climate change for some time now and they have good lessons learned to share as well uh so you know we uh our mission at Center is is to become the Hub uh for practitioners both both military and civilian so that there is a I wouldn't say a One-Stop shop but at least uh a a center that has a good visibility on what's being done in that domain of of climate security and being able to translate it to answer some of the questions or some of the issues that were asked not only by sponsoring Nations but also by by people uh at at NATO HQ when we're talking about implementing that action plan this is a work that will require all ends on deck and and we're certainly part of that equation so going forward what it means uh I have four main activities I would say that are more or less aligned to the the action plan and the first one is research and Analysis and Lessons Learned so we have people here that will be uh looking at some of the issues that are related to climate security but also making sure that the scientists out there that are doing some good work or linked with the right people and they rais the visibility of their research and their conclusions when it comes to climate security and how to make sure that we connect the dots uh from Nation to Nation the second point is as I said training in education so where can we support uh actual tools that are being developed as we speak or even come up with the ones that we think are relevant uh Paul talked about you know uh Pilots helicopter Pilots but there's there's like tailored training as well that needs to be T about in the future uh is it a role for Casco this is still to be determined but you know there are things that we will we will do a a needs analysis and then we will identify where the resources of the center can be invested in the most efficient way and then Doctrine and experimentation is another uh is another uh domain that we will be active in and and this is supporting the efforts that are already under way or will be soon enough and when the floodgates open on on revising these doctrines and stag I think there'll be a it'll be enough work for everyone so uh looking forward to be part of this uh the solutions there as well and and finally one of the things and and maybe under the awareness and Outreach more activities of of the action plan we have a dedicated branch that does outreach and engagement so these workshops we're talking about hopefully we will also be able to have those webinars that are so useful uh to share the knowledge uh but also uh we're Hing to OST conference uh that will bring uh these stinkers but also the military practitioners not the ones that are talking and breeding climate security the ones that need to make the decisions to implement the the the solutions that that others have have tght about and and developed so trying to you know that bridge between the science research and the decision making is is is at the heart of what we're trying to do and and this bridge is takes some time to build and needs to be strong enough uh but but certainly with the team I'll have here over the the next year will be able to to create that uh uh that capacity that that you know NATO has been asked well Canada as as as has put forward uh and and and NATO has has responded positively too great thank you so much and I really do appreciate as we near the uh the end of the session that you make mention of the policy and practitioner bridging up the Gap um obviously we haven't crafted any policy here today in the short time or or really discussed like the complexity of the issue but I think the the big piece we did highlight is the need to speak Beyond just the academic piece and really have that bridge between those policy and practitioners and see what the impacts are at the actual tactical level such as Paul did mention um so that being said I'm I'm happy to go around the the table that and have some parting items and come up from that so if you have anything you'd like the audience to know about or speak to in terms of a platform um I'm opening that up to you now uh I'd love to hear from you Pauline first thank you thanks thank you Alex and thank you for for the discussion it was it's as always really you know very exciting to hear about these um initiatives and how they are uh strengthening um also you know not only NATO per se but really A light resolve I think we can we can feel the impetus that there is um among the climate security community and the NATO community in addressing these issues and I think the the kind of conversations like today really get give a good overview of how all these considerations are interconnected um and of the general awareness that they need to be addressed in an inclusive way uh and integrate systems thinking as all panelists have uh mentioned uh and and and it's really the kind of discussion that firsters hope regarding continuing action and collaboration going forward um and the very in-depth understanding of of these risks and what what they require so I because I study the Arctic you know the I think the Arctic is just I see I see it just as a casing point of how climate security issues transcend boundaries and challenge national resources and resolve to address these issues um especially through cooperation among Arctic aliz but but also Beyond and and in in this sense I I think that Casco is is of course is a very promising platform to help mainstream the integration of climate considerations into Arctic military training and exercises ensure interoperability uh also to provide guidance to National um forces to operate more sustainably in the north um so so yes there there there's really this kind of hope and and stimulation uh happening and we can see also this from Canada's new um defense policy update uh that was released a couple of weeks ago uh with with a very strong focus on the Arctic and and you know Investments announced and and climate change is front and center first paragraph of of of this policy so I think this should be seen as a beginning uh in Canada's case we know that it's not enough because there's a huge capability Gap um but still we can see there's a shift in thinking uh which which ran from a focus mostly on you know soft security threats um from climate change in the Canadian otic to the recognition of harder security threats especially uh that the enforcement of territorial sovereignty may may be at risk uh from certain impacts of climate change so so yes I think all of this to say that there I think there's a shift in thinking and understanding and this is partly thanks to the impetus and all the work uh from NATO's climate security efforts are r large and and the LI collaboration on the topic thank you for that Pauline Bruno over to you thanks Alice Alex um just quickly maybe to say that if you're interested the issue of working in climate security and interested in climate secur Association in Canada it's a young Association we we're just over a year old uh you can follow us on linkoln we have a website we've launched uh student Fellowship so if you have students or if you're young professionals professional uh we're will be supporting that sort of work so keep an eye out for that um we'll we should have a newsletter ready also in in the spring uh yeah sorry early summer let's put it that way um and so yeah so we're just trying to bring people together so if you're interested that's another way also of contributing to community of interest but also to all the work that needs to be done as everyone today as as a online great thank you Bruno and I'm sure we'll be in touch more in the future in that regard Paul over to you for parting shots uh thank you I know this is perhaps traditionally the time in a conversation where we announce some new initiative or some new uh piece of work that we're going to undertake together but I think what we've mostly done as Bruno has has wisely pointed out is show how much work we've already identified to do and certainly on our part you know that mainstreaming effort at NATO that work to incorporate effective climate change mitigation and adaptation into everything that we do um is is a long-term project of which we keep discovering new details and new commitments and that's what makes me so thankful that we have efforts like this one to expand our learning to build our community out to help bring in New Perspectives and build the popular awareness of the scope of climate security problems and challenges and the steps that we know need to take to address them because that's how we summon the will and the resources and the expertise that is absolutely essential to get this work done I'm very happy to have been able to participate in this work I'm extremely Keen to work with the Casco as it continues to stand up as such an important enabling capability I'm thankful for Canada for its efforts to support the center and stand it up so quickly and that is all in service of uh what I continue to say is the the biggest and most complex and Most Fascinating security challenge we've ever dealt with so thank you very much great thank you so much Paul mat over to you to conclude we really do appreciate it no thanks thanks again Alex and and maybe an observation and a comment as as we as we finish this this this webinar i' I've been in position for seven months now so I've and I've talked to a lot of people uh in the community and and I can tell you with confidence that this is a a thriving uh group of individuals that are really dedicated to uh to the issue at play but I what I would want to point out is that you know the challenge anyway for us and and maybe for people on that panel as well is is to go beyond that Community you know be you know jump jump that that that wall and and and convince others of the importance and the urgency uh of it all so you know if if I had a you know a parting comment would be don't be don't be shy uh to feel uncomfortable uh and and go talk to people that may need a little bit more convincing uh when it comes to to climate change and security and it's it's it's it's clearly how we try to approach this and we want to shape the message so that they can uh accept uh but and be convinced and and take action and and and hopefully all these efforts that have been put uh in this topic uh so far uh and will be will be enough to convince but I'm I'm I'm you know I am extremely proud to be part of of this uh this community but I think we need now uh to pass on the message to uh to the a wider audience a wider audience and but thank you Alex for for this panel today great thank you so for all our speakers here uh thanks again for coming to the webinar the community's Richer and knowledge here based on today's contributions um and for guests and viewers we hope you've taken something away from the webinar today we remain open to Foster discussion pertaining to the items and you can further engage online through ipd website as well as various other forums such as the climate security Association of Canada the center for climate Security in Washington DC and of course CCO itself um that conclud we do appreciate everyone's time particularly the speakers as part of their busy days Take Good Care thank you thank you

Channel: Institute for Peace & Diplomacy

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Id: ib_r12gkl-U

Length: 63min 55sec (3835 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 29 2024