Taking Stock: Integrating Climate Change into U.S. National Security Practices in 2022

The briefing analyzes the Biden Administration's 2021 climate security reports, identifying climate change as a 'shaping threat' that necessitates a reexamination of national security assumptions. It argues that climate risks are current and future, wide-ranging, and exacerbate other security concerns, particularly in competition with China. The authors propose five 2022 priorities: mainstreaming climate security in regional strategies, linking adaptation with conflict prevention, maximizing whole-of-government science collaboration, increasing support for allies, and utilizing strategic foresight for worst-case scenarios.

• Climate change is forcing the U.S. national security community to move beyond historical frameworks, as past understandings of extreme events are no longer sufficient for preparing for future risks.
• Climate security is both an immediate and long-term challenge; while adaptation is necessary for current unavoidable effects, security challenges will worsen in the coming decades if emissions are not reduced.
• Climate risks are global and affect all nations, though the U.S. and other wealthy countries are better positioned to adapt despite facing massive costs from heat, flooding, and extreme storms.
• The National Intelligence Estimate identifies 11 countries with high insecurity due to climate hazards, including India, Pakistan, North Korea, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, as well as 'arcs of vulnerability' in Pacific Island States and Central Africa.
• Climate change acts as a 'shaping threat' that exacerbates other security concerns and may be leveraged by adversaries like China and Russia to gain influence, particularly through migration stress or control of critical minerals and water resources.
• Chinese dam-building on the Mekong River is identified as a specific flashpoint that threatens agriculture and fishing in Cambodia and Vietnam.

APA

Sikorsky, E., & Hugh, B. (2022). Taking Stock: Integrating Climate Change into U.S. National Security Practices in 2022. The Council on Strategic Risks. https://climateandsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Taking-Stock_Integrating-Climate-Change-into-U.S.-National-Security-Practices-in-2022_BRIEFER-29_2022_01_25.pdf

Chicago

Sikorsky, Erin, and Brigitte Hugh. Taking Stock: Integrating Climate Change into U.S. National Security Practices in 2022. The Council on Strategic Risks, 2022. https://climateandsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Taking-Stock_Integrating-Climate-Change-into-U.S.-National-Security-Practices-in-2022_BRIEFER-29_2022_01_25.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Sikorsky |first1=Erin |last2=Hugh |first2=Brigitte |title=Taking Stock: Integrating Climate Change into U.S. National Security Practices in 2022 |publisher=The Council on Strategic Risks |date=25 January 2022 |url=https://climateandsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Taking-Stock_Integrating-Climate-Change-into-U.S.-National-Security-Practices-in-2022_BRIEFER-29_2022_01_25.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sikorsky2022taking, author = {Sikorsky, Erin and Hugh, Brigitte}, title = {{Taking Stock: Integrating Climate Change into U.S. National Security Practices in 2022}}, institution = {The Council on Strategic Risks}, year = {2022}, month = jan, url = {https://climateandsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Taking-Stock_Integrating-Climate-Change-into-U.S.-National-Security-Practices-in-2022_BRIEFER-29_2022_01_25.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }