Issued on: 22/10/2021
A wind-driven wildfire burns near power line tower in Sylmar, California, U.S., October 10, 2019.
© Gene Blevins, REUTERS
Text by: NEWS WIRES
US intelligence services said Thursday for the first time that climate change poses wide-ranging threats to the United States' national security and stability around the world.
More extreme weather "will increasingly exacerbate a number of risks to US national security interests, from physical impacts that could cascade into security challenges, to how countries respond to the climate challenge," the White House said in a summary of the intelligence reports.
The prediction was made in the first official assessment by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or ODNI, which oversees the sprawling US intelligence apparatus.
The document "represents the consensus view of all 18" elements in the intelligence community, the White House said.
According to the agencies, climate change is driving "increased geopolitical tension as countries argue over who should be doing more," cross-border "flashpoints" as countries respond to climate change impact by trying to secure their own interests, and fallout from climate on national stability in some countries.
On a practical level, US national security bodies will be integrating climate change effects into their planning, the White House said.
The Pentagon, for example, will consider climate change "at every level, which will be essential to train, fight, and win in an increasingly complex environment."
Migration, a politically sensitive issue on the US southern border, will also be seen partly through the lens of climate change, the White House said.
"This assessment marks the first time the US government is officially recognizing and reporting on this linkage."
The report was issued just ahead of the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, which President Joe Biden will be attending.
"With more than 85 percent of global emissions coming from beyond US borders, we alone cannot solve this challenge. We need the rest of the world to accelerate their progress," a senior US official, who asked not to be identified, told reporters.
"It is definitely a security issue and a national security issue."
A separate government report issued later Thursday characterized climate-related risk as "an emerging threat to financial stability of the United States," according to the Financial Stability Oversight Council.
Recommendations included directives for regulators to require additional climate disclosures of companies and other regulated entities and consider mandates for them to undertake "scenario analysis" on climate outcomes.
"This report puts climate change squarely at the forefront of the agenda," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said at a meeting of the FSOC, which was set up after the 2008 financial crisis.
Yellen described the report as a "critical first step" as she called for immediate action, saying "the longer we wait to address the underlying causes of climate change, the greater the risk."
(AFP)
Text by: NEWS WIRES
US intelligence services said Thursday for the first time that climate change poses wide-ranging threats to the United States' national security and stability around the world.
More extreme weather "will increasingly exacerbate a number of risks to US national security interests, from physical impacts that could cascade into security challenges, to how countries respond to the climate challenge," the White House said in a summary of the intelligence reports.
The prediction was made in the first official assessment by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or ODNI, which oversees the sprawling US intelligence apparatus.
The document "represents the consensus view of all 18" elements in the intelligence community, the White House said.
According to the agencies, climate change is driving "increased geopolitical tension as countries argue over who should be doing more," cross-border "flashpoints" as countries respond to climate change impact by trying to secure their own interests, and fallout from climate on national stability in some countries.
On a practical level, US national security bodies will be integrating climate change effects into their planning, the White House said.
The Pentagon, for example, will consider climate change "at every level, which will be essential to train, fight, and win in an increasingly complex environment."
Migration, a politically sensitive issue on the US southern border, will also be seen partly through the lens of climate change, the White House said.
"This assessment marks the first time the US government is officially recognizing and reporting on this linkage."
The report was issued just ahead of the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, which President Joe Biden will be attending.
"With more than 85 percent of global emissions coming from beyond US borders, we alone cannot solve this challenge. We need the rest of the world to accelerate their progress," a senior US official, who asked not to be identified, told reporters.
"It is definitely a security issue and a national security issue."
A separate government report issued later Thursday characterized climate-related risk as "an emerging threat to financial stability of the United States," according to the Financial Stability Oversight Council.
Recommendations included directives for regulators to require additional climate disclosures of companies and other regulated entities and consider mandates for them to undertake "scenario analysis" on climate outcomes.
"This report puts climate change squarely at the forefront of the agenda," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said at a meeting of the FSOC, which was set up after the 2008 financial crisis.
Yellen described the report as a "critical first step" as she called for immediate action, saying "the longer we wait to address the underlying causes of climate change, the greater the risk."
(AFP)
Gov't reports say climate change affecting immigration, national security in U.S.
Vehicles wait at the U.S.-Mexico border to enter the United States on March 21. File
Vehicles wait at the U.S.-Mexico border to enter the United States on March 21. File
Photo by Ariana Drehsler/UPI | License Photo
Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The White House and the entire U.S. intelligence community each issued key reports on Thursday that underscore the harm posed by climate change as it relates to priorities like national security and immigration.
The White House report examines the climate impacts on migration, and the intelligence assessment weighs a broader scope of the potential damage.
The latter report -- which is the first to include a consensus on climate change from all 18 elements of the U.S. intelligence community -- outlines a number of areas of vital U.S. interest that are under threat from global warming.
"Geopolitical tensions are likely to grow as countries increasingly argue about how to accelerate the reductions in net greenhouse gas emissions," the 27-page National Intelligence Estimate on Climate states.
"Forecasts indicate that intensifying physical effects of climate change out to 2040 and beyond will be most acutely felt in developing countries, which we assess are also the least able to adapt to such changes."
The report also said the physical impact of climate change is likely to "exacerbate cross-border geopolitical flash points as states take steps to secure their interests."
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Defense Department, Homeland Security Department and National Security Council contributed to the assessment.
The White House said in its report that there's a definitive link between climate change and immigration, and that Thursday was the first time the U.S. government is recognizing the cause and effect.
"The accelerating trend of global displacement related to climate impacts is increasing cross-border movements ... particularly where climate change interacts with conflict and violence," the 37 page report, titled "The Impact of Climate Change on Migration," states.
Recommendations in the White House report include creating an interagency policy process on climate change and migration, improving analytics, establishing programs and investments into climate change mitigation and legislative action to address the crisis.
The recommendations in the reports reflect a pledge by President Joe Biden to make climate change a central tenet of foreign policy and national security.
"The climate crisis is reshaping our physical world, with the Earth's climate changing faster than at any point in modern history and extreme weather events becoming more frequent and severe," the White House added.
"We are already experiencing the devastating impacts that climate has wreaked on almost every aspect of our lives, from food and water insecurity to infrastructure and public health, this crisis is exacerbating inequalities that intersect with gender, race, ethnicity and economic security."
The sweeping assessments released on Thursday came one day after a study found that almost 100 of scientific studies agree that the cause of climate change is human activity.
"It's pretty much case closed for any meaningful public conversation about the reality of human-caused climate change," one expert in the study said.
Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The White House and the entire U.S. intelligence community each issued key reports on Thursday that underscore the harm posed by climate change as it relates to priorities like national security and immigration.
The White House report examines the climate impacts on migration, and the intelligence assessment weighs a broader scope of the potential damage.
The latter report -- which is the first to include a consensus on climate change from all 18 elements of the U.S. intelligence community -- outlines a number of areas of vital U.S. interest that are under threat from global warming.
"Geopolitical tensions are likely to grow as countries increasingly argue about how to accelerate the reductions in net greenhouse gas emissions," the 27-page National Intelligence Estimate on Climate states.
"Forecasts indicate that intensifying physical effects of climate change out to 2040 and beyond will be most acutely felt in developing countries, which we assess are also the least able to adapt to such changes."
The report also said the physical impact of climate change is likely to "exacerbate cross-border geopolitical flash points as states take steps to secure their interests."
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Defense Department, Homeland Security Department and National Security Council contributed to the assessment.
The White House said in its report that there's a definitive link between climate change and immigration, and that Thursday was the first time the U.S. government is recognizing the cause and effect.
"The accelerating trend of global displacement related to climate impacts is increasing cross-border movements ... particularly where climate change interacts with conflict and violence," the 37 page report, titled "The Impact of Climate Change on Migration," states.
Recommendations in the White House report include creating an interagency policy process on climate change and migration, improving analytics, establishing programs and investments into climate change mitigation and legislative action to address the crisis.
The recommendations in the reports reflect a pledge by President Joe Biden to make climate change a central tenet of foreign policy and national security.
"The climate crisis is reshaping our physical world, with the Earth's climate changing faster than at any point in modern history and extreme weather events becoming more frequent and severe," the White House added.
"We are already experiencing the devastating impacts that climate has wreaked on almost every aspect of our lives, from food and water insecurity to infrastructure and public health, this crisis is exacerbating inequalities that intersect with gender, race, ethnicity and economic security."
The sweeping assessments released on Thursday came one day after a study found that almost 100 of scientific studies agree that the cause of climate change is human activity.
"It's pretty much case closed for any meaningful public conversation about the reality of human-caused climate change," one expert in the study said.
US regulators endorse efforts to address climate risks
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen listens as President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with business leaders about the debt limit in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus, Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. financial regulators on Thursday approved a series of steps toward addressing the dangers that climate change poses to the nation’s financial system.
The Financial Stability Oversight Council, which is headed by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and includes Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, acknowledged in a report that climate change is a serious economic threat.
“Climate-related impacts in the form of warming temperatures rising sea levels, droughts, wildfires, intensifying storms and other climate related events are already imposing significant costs upon the public and the economy,” the council’s 133-page report says. “It is the responsibility of the council and its members to ensure the financial system’s resiliency to climate related risks.”
The report includes more than 30 proposals aimed at improving efforts to the assess risks. It put forward recommendations to upgrade the collection of risk data and also ways of making sure the public has access to the data.
The report was released 10 days before a United Nations conference on climate change in Glasgow, Scotland. It signals the Biden administration’s intention to tell the broader international community that it is putting together the policy architecture to address climate change and improve the resilience of financial markets.
With the United States lagging behind the European Union and the United Kingdom in responding to climate change’s economic threats, the administration hopes to use the report to assert more leadership on the issue.
As recommended by the report, a special advisory committee would be established of scientists, Wall Street executives, business and labor leaders, environmentalists and others to help develop standards for monitoring the economic impacts of climate change.
The report also advises identifying and filling gaps in data for assessing how climate change could threaten the economy, including the sharing of data across the federal government and with international counterparts.
The council approved creation of two climate advisory panels that will report to the group on a regular basis to keep officials informed of progress being made.
Companies and government agencies would also have new standards for public disclosures about the climate, a move designed to make it easier for the markets to appropriately weigh the impacts of climate change and the potential savings from reducing those impacts through measures like the use of renewable energy.
Yellen called the changes approved by FSOC an “important first step” but said they were by no means the end of the group’s effort to better incorporate the assessment of climate threats into the regulatory process.
She said the severe weather events of this summer from the wildfires in the West to Hurricane Ida along the Gulf Coast demonstrated the need for action.
Powell, calling climate change a “significant challenge for the global economy and the financial system,” said the Fed was committed to doing its part in such areas as using more sophisticated analyses to better assess climate risks.
Yellen has made addressing climate change a top priority since joining the Biden administration.
Environmental groups, however, said they were disappointed that the FSOC did not make more ambitious recommendations.
“Financial regulators can and must act to rein in Wall Street’s contributions to the climate crisis,” said Ben Cushing, the manager of the Sierra Club’s fossil-free finance campaign. “This report is a step in the right direction, but bolder action from regulators is necessary in order to protect our economy from the climate crisis.”
FSOC is an umbrella panel made up of the heads of the government’s top financial regulatory agencies. It was created by Congress in 2010 to address serious problems in coordination between agencies that had been revealed by the 2008 financial crisis.
The report and its recommendations were approved by all members of the panel with the exception of Jelena McWilliams, the head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., who abstained on the grounds she felt more information was needed before reaching a conclusion. McWilliams was appointed to the FDIC by then-President Donald Trump.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen listens as President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with business leaders about the debt limit in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus, Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. financial regulators on Thursday approved a series of steps toward addressing the dangers that climate change poses to the nation’s financial system.
The Financial Stability Oversight Council, which is headed by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and includes Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, acknowledged in a report that climate change is a serious economic threat.
“Climate-related impacts in the form of warming temperatures rising sea levels, droughts, wildfires, intensifying storms and other climate related events are already imposing significant costs upon the public and the economy,” the council’s 133-page report says. “It is the responsibility of the council and its members to ensure the financial system’s resiliency to climate related risks.”
The report includes more than 30 proposals aimed at improving efforts to the assess risks. It put forward recommendations to upgrade the collection of risk data and also ways of making sure the public has access to the data.
The report was released 10 days before a United Nations conference on climate change in Glasgow, Scotland. It signals the Biden administration’s intention to tell the broader international community that it is putting together the policy architecture to address climate change and improve the resilience of financial markets.
With the United States lagging behind the European Union and the United Kingdom in responding to climate change’s economic threats, the administration hopes to use the report to assert more leadership on the issue.
As recommended by the report, a special advisory committee would be established of scientists, Wall Street executives, business and labor leaders, environmentalists and others to help develop standards for monitoring the economic impacts of climate change.
The report also advises identifying and filling gaps in data for assessing how climate change could threaten the economy, including the sharing of data across the federal government and with international counterparts.
The council approved creation of two climate advisory panels that will report to the group on a regular basis to keep officials informed of progress being made.
Companies and government agencies would also have new standards for public disclosures about the climate, a move designed to make it easier for the markets to appropriately weigh the impacts of climate change and the potential savings from reducing those impacts through measures like the use of renewable energy.
Yellen called the changes approved by FSOC an “important first step” but said they were by no means the end of the group’s effort to better incorporate the assessment of climate threats into the regulatory process.
She said the severe weather events of this summer from the wildfires in the West to Hurricane Ida along the Gulf Coast demonstrated the need for action.
Powell, calling climate change a “significant challenge for the global economy and the financial system,” said the Fed was committed to doing its part in such areas as using more sophisticated analyses to better assess climate risks.
Yellen has made addressing climate change a top priority since joining the Biden administration.
Environmental groups, however, said they were disappointed that the FSOC did not make more ambitious recommendations.
“Financial regulators can and must act to rein in Wall Street’s contributions to the climate crisis,” said Ben Cushing, the manager of the Sierra Club’s fossil-free finance campaign. “This report is a step in the right direction, but bolder action from regulators is necessary in order to protect our economy from the climate crisis.”
FSOC is an umbrella panel made up of the heads of the government’s top financial regulatory agencies. It was created by Congress in 2010 to address serious problems in coordination between agencies that had been revealed by the 2008 financial crisis.
The report and its recommendations were approved by all members of the panel with the exception of Jelena McWilliams, the head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., who abstained on the grounds she felt more information was needed before reaching a conclusion. McWilliams was appointed to the FDIC by then-President Donald Trump.
US: More threats, more desperate refugees as climate warms
By JULIE WATSON, ELLEN KNICKMEYER and NOMAAN MERCHANT
In this Oct. 13, 2021, file photo, a firefighter watches as smoke rises from a wildfire in Goleta, Calif. Worsening climate change requires that the United States do much more to track and manage flows of migrants fleeing natural disasters. That's the finding of a multiagency study from the Biden administration. President Joe Biden ordered the assessment. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Earth’s warming and resulting natural disasters are creating a more dangerous world of desperate leaders and peoples, the Biden administration said Thursday in the federal government’s starkest assessments yet of security and migration challenges facing the United States as the climate worsens.
The Defense Department for years has called climate change a threat to U.S. national security. But Thursday’s reports by the departments of Defense and Homeland Security, National Security Council and Director of National Intelligence provide one of the government’s deepest looks yet at the vast rippling effects on the world’s stability and resulting heightened threats to U.S. security, as well as its impact on migration.
They include the first assessment by intelligence agencies on the impact of climate change, identifying 11 countries of greatest concern from Haiti to Afghanistan.
Another report, the first by the government focusing at length on climate and migration, recommends a number of steps, including monitoring the flows of people forced to leave their homes because of natural disasters, and working with Congress on a groundbreaking plan that would add droughts, floods and wildfires and other climate-related reasons to be considered in granting refugee status.
The climate migration assessments urge the creation of a task force to coordinate U.S. management of climate change and migration across government, from climate scientists to aid and security officials.
Each year, storms, the failure of seasonal rains and other sudden natural disasters force an average of 21.5 million people from their homes around the world, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says. Worsening climate from the burning of coal and gas already is intensifying a range of disasters, from wildfires overrunning towns in California, rising seas overtaking island nations and drought-aggravated conflict in some parts of the world.
“Policy and programming efforts made today and in coming years will impact estimates of people moving due to climate-related factors,” said the report, one of dozens of climate change assessments President Joe Biden ordered from federal agencies. “Tens of millions of people, however, are likely to be displaced over the next two to three decades due in large measure to climate change impacts.”
The Biden administration is eager to show itself confronting the impacts of climate change ahead of a crucial U.N. climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, that starts late this month. That’s especially so as Biden struggles to get lawmakers to agree to multibillion-dollar measures to slow climate change, a key part of his domestic agenda.
As part of its push Thursday, the administration released the first-ever national intelligence estimate on climate change, a document intended to signal the importance placed on the issue. National intelligence estimates are benchmark documents created by U.S. intelligence agencies that are intended to inform decision-making and analysis across the government.
Notably, U.S. intelligence agencies concluded it was probably already too late to keep the warming of the planet at or below the level laid out in the 2015 U.N. Paris climate accord. While that level remains the official goal for the United States and United Nations, many scientists have concluded the Earth’s temperature will rise at least several more tenths of a degree, a level of warming that brings even more damage and threatens some nations’ existence.
“Given current government policies and trends in technology development, we judge that collectively countries are unlikely to meet the Paris goals because high-emitting countries would have to make rapid progress toward decarbonizing their energy systems by transitioning away from fossil fuels within the next decade, whereas developing countries would need to rely on low-carbon energy sources for their economic development,” the intelligence report said.
No nation offers asylum or other legal protections to people displaced specifically because of climate change. The United States has the opportunity to change that, which could prompt others to follow suit, refugee advocates said.
The administration said it is not seeking to change international agreements on refugees but rather create U.S. laws that would allow climate change effects to be part of a valid claim for refugee status.
It noted that activists persecuted for speaking out against government inaction on climate change may also have plausible claims to refugee status.
Ama Francis, who has been helping the International Refugee Assistance Project find ways to protect climate refugees, applauded the administration’s recognition that global warming should be taken into account.
“That’s a huge signal from the U.S. government that our refugee and asylum system can protect people right now, which is important because there are thousands of climate displaced people already on the move, including those showing up at the U.S. border,” Francis said.
It’s imperative the report turn into legislation that allows climate refugees the ability to resettle in the United States, and not just result in another task force, others said.
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, one of nine U.S. agencies working to resettle refugees, said action is needed because the current U.S. humanitarian protection system “wasn’t engineered for cascading natural disasters, mass aridification or large swath of lands consumed by rising seas.”
According to the separate intelligence assessment, a warming planet could increase geopolitical tensions particularly as poorer countries grapple with droughts, rising seas and other effects, while they wait for richer, higher-polluting countries to change their behavior. Climate change will “increasingly exacerbate risks to U.S. national security interests,” according to the estimate.
The estimate identifies 11 countries of particular concern: Afghanistan, Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Iraq, Myanmar, Nicaragua, North Korea and Pakistan. It also lists two regions of concern: Central Africa and small island states in the Pacific Ocean.
Strains on land and water could push countries further toward conflict. In South Asia, much of Pakistan relies on surface water from rivers originating in India. The two countries are nuclear-armed rivals that have fought several wars since their founding in 1947. On India’s other side, about 10% of Bangladesh’s 160 million people already live in coastal areas vulnerable to rising seas and saltwater intrusion.
Intelligence officials who spoke on condition of anonymity under agency rules said climate change could indirectly affect counterterrorism by pushing people seeking food and shelter to violent groups.
The intelligence community needs more scientific expertise and to integrate climate change into its analysis of other countries, the officials said.
Rising temperatures could force almost 3% of the populations of Latin America, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa — more than 143 million people — to move within their countries in the next 30 years, according to one forecast cited in the report.
____
Watson reported from San Diego. AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein contributed.
By JULIE WATSON, ELLEN KNICKMEYER and NOMAAN MERCHANT
In this Oct. 13, 2021, file photo, a firefighter watches as smoke rises from a wildfire in Goleta, Calif. Worsening climate change requires that the United States do much more to track and manage flows of migrants fleeing natural disasters. That's the finding of a multiagency study from the Biden administration. President Joe Biden ordered the assessment. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Earth’s warming and resulting natural disasters are creating a more dangerous world of desperate leaders and peoples, the Biden administration said Thursday in the federal government’s starkest assessments yet of security and migration challenges facing the United States as the climate worsens.
The Defense Department for years has called climate change a threat to U.S. national security. But Thursday’s reports by the departments of Defense and Homeland Security, National Security Council and Director of National Intelligence provide one of the government’s deepest looks yet at the vast rippling effects on the world’s stability and resulting heightened threats to U.S. security, as well as its impact on migration.
They include the first assessment by intelligence agencies on the impact of climate change, identifying 11 countries of greatest concern from Haiti to Afghanistan.
Another report, the first by the government focusing at length on climate and migration, recommends a number of steps, including monitoring the flows of people forced to leave their homes because of natural disasters, and working with Congress on a groundbreaking plan that would add droughts, floods and wildfires and other climate-related reasons to be considered in granting refugee status.
The climate migration assessments urge the creation of a task force to coordinate U.S. management of climate change and migration across government, from climate scientists to aid and security officials.
Each year, storms, the failure of seasonal rains and other sudden natural disasters force an average of 21.5 million people from their homes around the world, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says. Worsening climate from the burning of coal and gas already is intensifying a range of disasters, from wildfires overrunning towns in California, rising seas overtaking island nations and drought-aggravated conflict in some parts of the world.
“Policy and programming efforts made today and in coming years will impact estimates of people moving due to climate-related factors,” said the report, one of dozens of climate change assessments President Joe Biden ordered from federal agencies. “Tens of millions of people, however, are likely to be displaced over the next two to three decades due in large measure to climate change impacts.”
The Biden administration is eager to show itself confronting the impacts of climate change ahead of a crucial U.N. climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, that starts late this month. That’s especially so as Biden struggles to get lawmakers to agree to multibillion-dollar measures to slow climate change, a key part of his domestic agenda.
As part of its push Thursday, the administration released the first-ever national intelligence estimate on climate change, a document intended to signal the importance placed on the issue. National intelligence estimates are benchmark documents created by U.S. intelligence agencies that are intended to inform decision-making and analysis across the government.
Notably, U.S. intelligence agencies concluded it was probably already too late to keep the warming of the planet at or below the level laid out in the 2015 U.N. Paris climate accord. While that level remains the official goal for the United States and United Nations, many scientists have concluded the Earth’s temperature will rise at least several more tenths of a degree, a level of warming that brings even more damage and threatens some nations’ existence.
“Given current government policies and trends in technology development, we judge that collectively countries are unlikely to meet the Paris goals because high-emitting countries would have to make rapid progress toward decarbonizing their energy systems by transitioning away from fossil fuels within the next decade, whereas developing countries would need to rely on low-carbon energy sources for their economic development,” the intelligence report said.
No nation offers asylum or other legal protections to people displaced specifically because of climate change. The United States has the opportunity to change that, which could prompt others to follow suit, refugee advocates said.
The administration said it is not seeking to change international agreements on refugees but rather create U.S. laws that would allow climate change effects to be part of a valid claim for refugee status.
It noted that activists persecuted for speaking out against government inaction on climate change may also have plausible claims to refugee status.
Ama Francis, who has been helping the International Refugee Assistance Project find ways to protect climate refugees, applauded the administration’s recognition that global warming should be taken into account.
“That’s a huge signal from the U.S. government that our refugee and asylum system can protect people right now, which is important because there are thousands of climate displaced people already on the move, including those showing up at the U.S. border,” Francis said.
It’s imperative the report turn into legislation that allows climate refugees the ability to resettle in the United States, and not just result in another task force, others said.
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, one of nine U.S. agencies working to resettle refugees, said action is needed because the current U.S. humanitarian protection system “wasn’t engineered for cascading natural disasters, mass aridification or large swath of lands consumed by rising seas.”
According to the separate intelligence assessment, a warming planet could increase geopolitical tensions particularly as poorer countries grapple with droughts, rising seas and other effects, while they wait for richer, higher-polluting countries to change their behavior. Climate change will “increasingly exacerbate risks to U.S. national security interests,” according to the estimate.
The estimate identifies 11 countries of particular concern: Afghanistan, Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Iraq, Myanmar, Nicaragua, North Korea and Pakistan. It also lists two regions of concern: Central Africa and small island states in the Pacific Ocean.
Strains on land and water could push countries further toward conflict. In South Asia, much of Pakistan relies on surface water from rivers originating in India. The two countries are nuclear-armed rivals that have fought several wars since their founding in 1947. On India’s other side, about 10% of Bangladesh’s 160 million people already live in coastal areas vulnerable to rising seas and saltwater intrusion.
Intelligence officials who spoke on condition of anonymity under agency rules said climate change could indirectly affect counterterrorism by pushing people seeking food and shelter to violent groups.
The intelligence community needs more scientific expertise and to integrate climate change into its analysis of other countries, the officials said.
Rising temperatures could force almost 3% of the populations of Latin America, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa — more than 143 million people — to move within their countries in the next 30 years, according to one forecast cited in the report.
____
Watson reported from San Diego. AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein contributed.
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