Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will deliver a speech on Monday that details the impact of climate change on the U.S. military and the Pentagon’s plan to fight it.
Hagel’s address at a meeting of defense ministers in Peru coincides with the release of a report that will lay out the Pentagon’s blueprint on how it will tackle climate change, The Associated Press reports.
Defense Department officials have long said that the impact of climate change is not a distant threat but one felt now by U.S. operations across the world.
{mosads}Still, Monday’s report signals a shift by the Pentagon to a comprehensive effort to address climate change head on.
“If you take just the one element of climate change, potential threats as sea levels rise, the coasts of countries, islands present obvious security challenges for stability, security, national defense institutions,” Hagel said during a stop in Santiago, Chile, over the weekend, the AP reports.
“When there is any natural disaster event that occurs, there always is some element of a security risk; law and order, individuals attempting to take advantage of those catastrophes, adjusting to shifts in security requirements,” Hagel added.