DOD Leaders Discuss UN Climate Conference Talks

January 3, 2024

Defense Department leaders and the military services are working with global allies to address the security risks posed by climate change, which they say is why they were part of the U.S. delegation to the 28th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), the global climate conference held last year in Dubai, UAE.

“The link between climate change and national security has been discussed in the Pentagon’s strategic guidance documents since the George H.W. Bush administration 30 years ago,” several DOD leaders wrote in a recent Defense One op-ed. “But under the Biden administration, the Department has sharpened its focus on this challenge—and with good reason.”

The op-ed was written by several of the attendees who oversee environmental issues: Assistant Defense Secretary Brendan Owens, Assistant Navy Secretary Meredith Berger, Assistant Army Secretary Rachel Jacobson, Assistant Air Force Secretary Ravi Chaudhary and Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Iris Ferguson.

“In Dubai, we carried the following message: U.S. leadership on climate change—including from DOD—is essential to our collective security.”

ADC photo of Owens by Will Noonan

January 3, 2024

Recent News

Snap of the Week

Snap of the Week

Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Sadie Gehring, performs line handling operations as the Independence-class littoral combat ship USS Tulsa prepares to moor at Commander, Fleet Activities Sasebo Akasaki Fuel Depot in Sasebo, Japan, July 10. Tulsa visited CFAS for resupply...

U.S. Sending Weapons to Ukraine Again

U.S. Sending Weapons to Ukraine Again

The U.S. is now sending 155 mm munitions and precision-guided rockets to Ukraine, a week after the Pentagon had ordered a pause on weapons shipments, AP reported. CNN reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not communicate to the White House that shipments...

In Our Communities

In Our Communities

Eielson Chosen for First Air Force Microreactor Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska has been selected as the home of the Air Force’s first nuclear microreactor, AP reported. The reactor will begin use in 2027 as a trial for the feasibility of the technology for other...

Supreme Court Clears Way for Shrinking Federal Government

Supreme Court Clears Way for Shrinking Federal Government

The Supreme Court overrode lower court orders Tuesday and paved the way for the Trump administration to drastically downsize the federal government, AP and others reported. The order also means some federal agencies could be downsized or closed, including the...

PAST STORIES