Until the end of Clinton’s second mandate, the United States didn’t include climate change as a serious security threat. Twelve years after he left the White House, a majority of governments and armies in the world have reached the same conclusion, although such a diagnosis in very few countries has been accompanied by the required policies to check the menace.

KEY POINTS
Climate change is real and it is happening now. Its effects are having an impact on the security and stability of virtually every country around the world.
The governments and militaries of an overwhelming majority of countries – at least 110 – have identified climate change as a threat to their security. Many have fully integrated it into their defense and national security planning documents.
Defense documents and statements by Heads of State are important signifiers of a country’s priorities. The importance of climate change in these documents show that the world is demanding action to address this issue.
Climate change, according to the authors, is a risk to global security because «it increases vulnerability in infrastructure, agriculture, energy and other factors». Main national security strategies, the Spanish one included (still in stand by, waiting for a decision by the PP government of Mariano Rajoy), formally recognize it.
Unfortunately, the economic and financial crisis, which has forced nearly all Western governments to control their public expenses in the last four years, has increased the gap between what high oficials and the strategic documents say and what governments do.
Nevertheless, the report’s authors think they have already enough data to divide the world in four groups of countries:
Layout of the Index
1. Those which clearly see climate change as a security threat.
2. Countries seeing it just as an environmental issue.
3. Those which don’t even consider it a source of concern.
4. Finally, there are countries which cannot be classified, given the lack of information available.
Preliminary Results
Climate Change is a National Security Threat 110 out of 155* – 71% of countries
Climate Change as an Environmental Concern 32/155* – 21% of countries
Climate Change is Not a Defined Concern 13/155* – 8% of countries
No Information Available 41/196* – 21% of countries(*)for which information is available
DALLAS EVENT – Climate Change: Risks for National Security http://www.americansecurityproject.org/event/dallas-event-climate-change-risks-for-national-security/#.U4ZBnqvLXgQ.twitter …#natsec#globalwarming#facts
Climate Change Doomed the Ancients
- EL DESAFÍO DE LA ACCIÓN INTERNACIONAL EN MATERIA DE CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO DESPUÉS DE LA REUNIÓN DE DOHA. Por Rosa María Giles Carnero. Documento Opinión del IEEE. 26/2013. 19 de marzo de 2013.
Climate change poses a serious threat to security and is becoming a “catalyst for conflict” in vulnerable countries: http://j.mp/U3oMAE