Connecting Nuclear and Climate Policy in the Biden Administration

The Council on Strategic Risks (CSR) examines how climate change and nuclear trends—including the expansion of civil nuclear energy and the modernization of nuclear arsenals—interact to reshape the international order. The briefing highlights specific regional vulnerabilities, such as water stress in South Asia and sea-level rise affecting nuclear sites in Egypt and Nigeria. It concludes with a set of policy recommendations for the U.S. government, including the creation of a National Security Council director for the climate-nuclear-security nexus and the elimination of low-yield nuclear weapons to restore international trust.

• The international order is facing significant instability due to a weakening taboo against weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and a trend toward making nuclear weapons more 'politically usable' through the development of 'low-yield' weapons.
• Climate change acts as a security stressor in nuclear-armed states, specifically in India, Pakistan, and China, where glacial melt and flooding threaten shared river resources and exacerbate geopolitical tensions.
• Russia and China are leveraging the export of civil nuclear technology and the impacts of climate change (such as Arctic ice melt) to expand their global influence and impose security agendas.
• Nuclear energy newcomers face high risks where climate-induced instability and physical threats to infrastructure converge, such as sea-level rise threatening the El Dabaa plant in Egypt and desertification in Nigeria.
• U.S. nuclear infrastructure is itself vulnerable to climate change, as evidenced by the 2019 extreme flooding at Offutt Air Force Base, the home of US Strategic Command.
• The CSR Working Group recommends that the U.S. government establish a National Security Council (NSC) director to oversee the climate, nuclear, and security nexus to ensure policies are mutually reinforcing.
• To signal a pivot toward international cooperation and improve public acceptance of nuclear energy as a climate solution, the U.S. should cap and eliminate tactical and low-yield nuclear weapons.

APA

Parthemore, C., & Rezzonico, A. (2020). Connecting Nuclear and Climate Policy in the Biden Administration. The Council on Strategic Risks. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Connecting-Nuclear-and-Climate-Policy-in-the-Biden-Administration_BRIEFER-12_2020_11_17.pdf

Chicago

Parthemore, Christine, and Andrea Rezzonico. Connecting Nuclear and Climate Policy in the Biden Administration. The Council on Strategic Risks, 2020. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Connecting-Nuclear-and-Climate-Policy-in-the-Biden-Administration_BRIEFER-12_2020_11_17.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Parthemore |first1=Christine |last2=Rezzonico |first2=Andrea |title=Connecting Nuclear and Climate Policy in the Biden Administration |publisher=The Council on Strategic Risks |date=17 November 2020 |url=https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Connecting-Nuclear-and-Climate-Policy-in-the-Biden-Administration_BRIEFER-12_2020_11_17.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{parthemore2020connecting, author = {Parthemore, Christine and Rezzonico, Andrea}, title = {{Connecting Nuclear and Climate Policy in the Biden Administration}}, institution = {The Council on Strategic Risks}, year = {2020}, month = nov, url = {https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Connecting-Nuclear-and-Climate-Policy-in-the-Biden-Administration_BRIEFER-12_2020_11_17.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }