News
DOD Announces Plan to Tackle Climate Crisis
Oct. 7, 2021 | BY Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Environment and Energy Resilience
On Oct. 7, 2021, the White House released Climate Adaptation Plans from each agency, as required by Executive Order 14008, "Tackling the Climate Crisis At Home and Abroad." The Department of Defense Climate Adaptation Plan, released with these plans, articulates a bold vision for climate adaptation and aligns adaptation and resilience efforts with the department's warfighting mission. The DOD CAP is the culmination of more than 10 years of effort within the department to ensure that the military forces of the United States retain operational advantage under all conditions.
Soldiers look at the sun on the horizon.
DOD's Climate Adaptation Plan was approved by the Council on Environmental Quality and the Office of Management and Budget in June and signed by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III on September 1, 2021. The DOD CAP lays out how operations, planning activities, business processes, and resource allocation decisions will include climate change considerations. No entity has the luxury of "opting out" of the effects of climate change, so no activity can "opt out" of the requirement to adapt to a changing climate.
DOD's Strategy to Tackle the Climate Crisis
DOD's efforts to "Ensure the Department of Defense can operate under changing climate conditions, preserving operational capability and enhancing the natural and man-made systems essential to the Department's success" are outlined in the strategic framework graphic below.
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/2787056/dod-announces-plan-to-tackle-climate-crisis/
