CROSS-CUTTING TOPICS

The effects of climate change are more evident and pervasive than ever before. These changes will impose stresses on current ways of life, on individuals’ ability to subsist and on governments’ abilities to keep pace and provide for the needs of their populations. The instabilities caused by these changes, while not necessarily direct drivers, will exacerbate existing tensions in the human, political, and economic spheres, and for this reason climate change is often described as a Threat Multiplier.

The return of military force as an instrument for furthering foreign and security policy goals highlight the growing importance of national resilience and civil preparedness in providing vital parts of national security.