Strategic Military Geography: Climate Change Adaptation and the Military

This chapter explores climate change impacts on defense forces (militaries) and suggests ways for them to respond. It considers general military capacity to become more involved in climate adaptation, proposes some best practices, and articulates a decision framework for action. We have developed a framework for capture and analysis of the military role within broader climate adaptation. The Strategic Military Geography (SMG) Framework is a decision framework that allows collaborative exploration of the relationship between climate change impacts and military activities. SMG employs systemic action research, which integrates systems thinking, participatory action research, and triple-loop learning to address the complex, interlinked issues relating to global change, including climate change. It was found that defense forces can play a significant role in climate adaptation, in armed conflict situations, and in military operations other than war, such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. For example, military personnel are regularly involved as responders to natural disasters and often play a central role in reconstruction. Practical ways that defense forces can build climate adaptiveness include incorporation of projected change and associated uncertainty into preparedness (readiness) planning, improved forecasting, regional and whole-of-government engagement on climate adaptation, and building energy sustainability that reduces carbon emissions. The framework presented supports system-wide long-term planning, fosters greater dialogue between critical stakeholders, and enables transfer of learning between defense forces and other organizations.