US president tasks national security teams to focus on climate change

An executive order signed by US President Joe Biden on 27 January pledged to tackle climate change and framed the issue as a priority for US national security. The executive order included national security-related tasks for the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

The president ordered the DNI to prepare “a National Intelligence Estimate [NIE] on the national and economic security impacts of climate change” within 120 days of the order being signed. Additionally, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, in co-ordination with Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo (pending confirmation) and other administrative bodies, was tasked with “submitting an analysis of the security implications of climate change (Climate Risk Analysis) that can be incorporated into modeling, simulation, war-gaming, and other analyses” within 120 days. Austin and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas (pending confirmation) were tasked with providing annual updates on integrating the security implications of various strategic documents.

US President Joe Biden signs executive orders at the White House in Washington, DC, on 27 January 2021. The orders included tasks for national security teams to prioritise climate change. (Anna Moneymaker-Pool/Getty Images)

The executive order reversed several climate-related policies adopted under former president Donald Trump, including rejoining the Paris Agreement international climate change treaty that Trump withdrew from and signalled a further shift away from the previous administration’s sceptical position on climate change by framing it in a national security context. Climate change did not feature in the National Defense Strategy under Trump.