NATO Releases 2024 Climate Change and Security Impact Assessment Report

NATO released the Secretary General’s annual Climate Change and Security Impact Assessment on Tuesday (9 July 2024). It notes that accelerating climate change has “a profound impact on Allied security,” and stresses the need for NATO to remain fit for purpose in a rapidly changing environment.

This assessment is part of an ambitious Action Plan on Climate Change and Security that NATO Leaders adopted at the Brussels Summit in 2021.

Building on previous editions, it examines the impact of climate change on each of NATO’s operating domains – sea, land, air, space and cyber – as well as on NATO’s missions and operations, and resilience and civil preparedness.

The Climate Change and Security Impact Assessment presents case studies in three geographical areas: NATO’s presence in Kosovo; the Rovajärvi shooting and training area in Finland; and the joint Canadian and US early-warning radar system for North American ​air defence (NORAD). It also evaluates the performance of submarines, naval helicopters, and military transport planes in a changing climate.

For the first time, the assessment includes an analysis of climate change impacts on NATO’s potential adversaries and strategic competitors, and addresses the climate impact of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The report responds to NATO’s commitment to raise Allied awareness and understanding of the impact of climate change on our security. It will help inform NATO adaptation to this altered strategic and operational environment.