In order to tackle climate change, it has to be "at the center of a country's national security and foreign policy," Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told world leaders during a virtual global climate summit on Thursday.
Haines said the United States is taking this approach moving forward, adding that climate change "needs to be fully integrated with every aspect of our analysis in order to allow us not only to monitor the threat but also, critically, to ensure that policymakers understand the importance of climate change on seemingly unrelated policies."
On Thursday, the CIA said it is adding a new environmental category to its World Factbook, which will provide data on climate, pollution, infectious diseases, and food security for different countries. The intelligence community's most recent worldwide threat assessment said that the extreme weather caused by climate change will likely force people to leave areas as they become inhabitable, and this could lead to a possible surge in migration and instability. All of this would "exacerbate political instability and humanitarian crises," the report states.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
-
When and how could humans talk to animals?We may be getting closer than we think
-
Cop28 and the fight to reach the Paris Agreement climate goals
The Explainer Al Gore says fossil fuel industry has 'captured' UN climate talks agenda
-
How Indigenous knowledge could help tackle climate change
Under the radar New US research hub wants to use the traditional ways of Native peoples to address environmental problems
-
'Climate-friendly' beef is another instance of greenwashing
Can beef truly be climate-friendly?
-
At least 1 dead at Burning Man as thousands remain stranded from flooding
Speed Read
-
The extinction threat to emperor penguins caused by climate change
feature Thousands of chicks died last year due to receding sea ice in Antarctica
-
Earthquake rattles Southern California as Tropical Storm Hilary hits
Speed Read
-
Tackling climate change: is China laggard or pioneer?
feature Beijing remains reticent to publicly debate climate change which is consistently downplayed as a cause of recent disasters
