UNCLASSIFIED
INFORMATION PAPER
SCJ453
7 NOV 2013
SUBJECT: Caribbean, Central and South American Militaries Environmental Concerns
Collaboration
1.
Purpose:
Provide a baseline of information sharing on relevant regional
environmental concerns for the militaries in the Americas (to be completed with input
from PN MIL reps – this content is still subject to review)
(information for the items in blue will be inputted, collaborated, and/or provided by
Partner Nation (PN) colleagues)
2. Facts: SC J45 (Engineers) will work with and collaborate with numerous partner
nations in the Caribbean, Central and South American Militaries on Environmental
common concerns.
3. Background (USSOUTHCOM provided): The following information is the baseline
US information being shared in order to start the facilitation of the collaboration with our
Partner Nations:
“The security threats, concerns, and other challenges in the hemispheric context are of
diverse nature and multi-dimensional in scope, and the traditional concepts and
approaches must be expanded to encompass new and nontraditional threats, which
include political, economic, social, health and environmental aspects.”1
Gradual but significant environmental variability constitutes a slow moving emergency
that all nations will be compelled to respond to both proactively and reactively – now
and into the future. The extent of the impacts will vary depending upon the magnitude
and intensity of exposure in addition to the capacity of individual states to mitigate and
respond to the impacts of environmental shifts. All nations should expect a continuing
and increasing interplay between climate, land, water, food, migration, and urbanization,
economic, social, and political factors.
It is ill-advised for national security discussions to be confined to traditional topics and
notions of security that have traditionally centered around the axis of state on state
conflict. Environmental factors such as; natural resources scarcity (e.g. clean water),
environmental degradation (e.g. deforestation, water contamination), chemical
spills/hazardous wastes, extreme weather/catastrophic events (e.g. tornadoes and
hurricanes) and infectious diseases (i.e. pandemics) must be understood as serious
hazards to national and international stability. A new framework of understanding is
needed – one that incorporates environmental variability considerations into the regional
and nation-state security calculus.
1 Key OAS Security Documents, Department of Public Security, Volume I: National Security p.11
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All states of the Americas have experienced locally severe economic damage, plus
substantial ecosystem, social and cultural disruption from recent weather-related
extremes, including hurricanes, severe storms, floods, droughts, heat waves and
wildfires. Over the past several decades, economic damage from severe weather has
increased dramatically, due largely to increased value of the infrastructure at risk.
Annual cost to North America for example has reached tens of billions of dollars in
damaged property and economic productivity, as well as lives disrupted and lost. 2
These emerging realities will compel governments throughout the Americas to reassess
national security priorities and to develop strategies to improve national resiliencies in
the face of intensifying environmental variability.
This information paper provides a synopsis on some prominent environmental related
impacts on four Western Hemisphere sub-regions – the Caribbean, North America,
Central America, and South America. It does not aspire to provide a comprehensive
assessment of environmental impacts on the entire region, but rather expose impacts of
environmental challenges on a set of representational countries. This will inform
conversations on how regional militaries can be better prepared to support civilian
authorities to mitigate the effects of the “slow moving emergency”, as well as
maintaining resiliency and readiness.
Relevant Environmental Issues by Region:
Central America
Caribbean
South America (Equatorial Region)
South America (Southern Cone)
North America
2
North America. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment
Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
http://know.climateofconcern.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=article&id=109
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“The melting of the polar ice cap in the Arctic plus the frequency and intensity of weather
events in this hemisphere, with the corresponding need for military humanitarian assistance
missions, calls for a greater attention to the security implications of climate change” 3
Though North American states (i.e. Canada, the United States and Mexico) are
generally more capable of mitigating and responding to the potential and actual impacts
of changes in the environment, factors such as; topography, national capacities and
human geography will make some countries more susceptible to the effects of specific
environmental factors than others. The following is a short list of some of the impacts
environmental variability is already having on North American states.
 Due to sea level rise, increase in inundations, and storm surge flooding, shoreline
erosion. This will affect the people living in the coastal ecosystems like salt
marshes.
 Wildfire and insect outbreaks have been increasing and are likely to intensify.
 Increased risk of deaths due to heat waves, water-borne diseases, and degraded
water quality, respiratory illness, and vector-borne infectious diseases.
 Due to diminishing snowfields, the availability of water has become a major issue.
This will add to the pressure on the availability of groundwater.
Canada, the United States and Mexico, in the recent past, have all experienced
economic damage, plus substantial ecosystem, social and cultural disruption from
weather-related extremes which include hurricanes, floods, droughts, heat waves and
wildfires. Further, economic damage from severe weather has increased dramatically,
due largely to increased value of the infrastructure at risk. For example, annual costs to
North American states have now reached tens of billions of dollars in damaged property
and economic productivity, as well as lives disrupted and lost. 4 Extreme events, from
natural disasters to severe droughts, will become increasingly more common requiring
that sustainability and resilience become essential elements of national security strategy
of North American states. 5
Extreme weather phenomena like Hurricane Sandy that affect large populations capture
international attention due to the rapid onset of the impacts. However, slow moving
environmental impacts like polar ice melt can be just as significant. Over time seemingly
small changes like global temperature rise can lead to unforeseen geo-political tensions
and new vulnerabilities. The polar ice melt for example has resulted in the opening of
previously frozen waterways compelling the Canadian government to more actively
engage other arctic states like, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, and
Sweden in order to resolve long standing maritime border disputes before they play out
on the high seas.
3
Gates, RM. Speech delivered at German Marshall Fund Security Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia [online] (November 20, 2009).
www.defense.gov/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=1398.
4
North America. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment
Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
http://know.climateofconcern.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=article&id=109
5
The Concept of Environmental Security, By Kent Hughes Butts, Sherri Goodman, Nancy Nugent (2012)
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Further south in Mexico, the second largest greenhouse gas emitter in Latin America,
longer and hotter periods are being experienced leading to more droughts, more intense
rains with associated frequent floods and mudslides. According to the World Bank, if
climate change is not addressed, the Mexican economy is expected to decline by
between 3.5 and 4 percent and suffer significant costs of up to 6.2 percent of GDP. 6
It is becoming increasingly understood by all national security stakeholders that
environmental variability related impacts will be destabilizing factors throughout the
region and must be addressed in the short term to prevent long term damage to the
natural environment and to regional human security.
Relevant Environmental Issues by Country:
Chile
Colombia
El Salvador
Trinidad & Tobago
USA (I still need to prepare this piece)
Relevant Environmental Issues for the Armed Forces
Chile
Colombia
El Salvador
Trinidad & Tobago
USA
Our leadership in the Department of Defense (DoD) has been considering different
aspects of environmental and energy issues and potential effects on US Military
facilities, operations, training and missions we undertake.
Over the last five years, US national security and defense guidance have highlighted
the potential effects of environmental stressors in the future security environment.
Physical pressures such as population, resources, energy, climatic and environmental,
could combine with rapid social, cultural, technological and geopolitical change to create
6
Mexico Seeks to Adapt to Climate Change and Mitigate its Effects (April 17, 2013) http://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2013/04/17/mexicoseeks-to-adapt-to-climate-change-and-mitigate-its-effects
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greater uncertainty.7 Subsequent guidance brought attention to the uncertain effects of
climate change to the physical environment and the relation to the military missions.
While climate change alone does not cause conflict, it may act as an accelerant of
instability or conflict, placing a burden to respond on civilian institutions and militaries
around the world. 8
Environmental factors have the potential to directly affect our military forces as we are
supported by the physical environment in which we operate. Here are some examples
of environmental factors that DoD is looking into from a risks/vulnerabilities assessment
perspective9.
Facilities:
 precipitation patterns affect water availability
 storm frequency and flooding affect maintenance costs for roads, utilities and
runways
 storm frequency and flooding affect flood control and erosion control measures
 rising temperatures increase energy costs for building and industrial base operations
 coastal flooding and storm surge affect coastal infrastructure and cost of
infrastructure reinforcement and other modifications
 coastal flooding affect the demand for surface water resources and associated cost
of saltwater intrusion countermeasures
 inland and coastal flooding may affect future land availability and siting of new
construction
Operations
 high temperatures may affect airlift capacity and change operational parameters for
equipment
 higher temperatures increase operational health risks
 precipitation patterns affect land carrying capacity for vehicle maneuvers
 increased storm frequency and intensity may cause temporary or prolonged
disruption of operations
 flooding disrupts access to water crossings and river operations
 flooding increases transportation infrastructure damage
 coastal flooding and storm surge may have impacts on supply chain from potential
shipping interruptions
Training:
 high-heat days cause training day limitations
 rising temperatures reduce live-fire training
 changes in precipitation patterns affect availability of training lands
 coastal flooding and storm surge impacts littoral and shore training and ranges
7
2008 National Defense Strategy
2010 Quadrennial Defense Review
9
2012 Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan, Appendix 2
8
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Missions
 environmental degradation may increase the potential for conflict or humanitarian
crises
 extreme weather events may lead to increased demands for defense support to civil
authorities for humanitarian assistance or disaster response10
To maintain military resiliency and readiness, DoD has started to look into mission
sustainability. This is in compliance with US Government policy for agencies to become
more efficient in the use of energy, greenhouse gas emissions, use of water resources
and management of waste.11
The DoD’s vision of sustainability is to maintain the
ability to operate into the future without decline – either in the mission or in the natural
and manufactured systems that support it. Many key issues facing DoD can be
addressed through smart investments that improve sustainability as well as promote the
mission, such as using energy and water more efficiently, acquiring more energy from
renewable sources, designing buildings for high performance, reducing the use of toxic
and hazardous chemicals, and optimally managing solid waste 12.
The DoD Services has initiated plans and actions to become more sustainable and
resilient. The following information is as reported in the 2012 DoD Strategic
Sustainability Performance Plan:
Army: The Army conducted a comprehensive review of environmental programs in FY
2011, including an evaluation of environmental staffing levels across the Army, to
ensure that Army organizations are successfully postured to support both the mission
and sustainability goals. The Army also merged its energy and sustainability
governance structures in October 2011 into a single Senior Energy and Sustainability
Council that serves to institutionalize energy and sustainability in doctrine, policy,
training, operations and acquisitions across the entire Army enterprise. The Army
incorporated sustainability as a “foundation” concept embedded across the Army
Campaign Plan strategy map, where one of the objectives is to “achieve energy security
and sustainability objectives.” Finally, the Army launched its cross-cutting Net Zero
Initiative in April 2011, a holistic approach to energy, water, and waste that directly
supports the Army's energy security and sustainability objectives.
Navy: In the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV) Energy and Environmental
Readiness Division was created in May 2010, combining the existing OPNAV
Environmental Readiness Division and the Navy's Task Force Energy. Since then, the
division has developed many cross-cutting sustainability initiatives, such as the
incorporation of sustainability considerations into ship and weapons system design
processes and promoting sustainability through Navy outreach efforts. The Department
of the Navy (DON) is in the process of revising its Environmental Readiness Program
Manual (OPNAV Instruction 5090.1C) to specifically include information on sustainability
and the DoD SSPP. The revision is expected to be published in FY 2013.
10
2010 Quadrennial Defense Review
2009 Presidential Executive Order 13514
12
2011 Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan
11
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Air Force: The Air Force has moved to Sustainable Infrastructure Assessments, which
combine energy and water audits, facility condition assessments, space optimization
assessments, and High Performance and Sustainable Building assessments into a
single activity. In October 2011, the Air Force issued its Environmental Management
System Standardization Methodology and Approach policy memo, and in November
2011 updated its Environmental Management Instruction. These actions formally
establish environmental management systems (EMSs) across the enterprise as the
core framework for continual program and process improvement to achieve and attain
sustainability and compliance goals. Later in FY 2012, the Air Force will issue a policy
on achieving a “net zero” posture for Air Force installation water, energy and solid
waste. The net zero actions will build upon and complement the new EMS policies and
ES-2 other existing Air Force strategic sustainability policy and goals, providing a
systemic, cross-cutting blueprint that embeds sustainability into Air Force operations.
In a regional context, we recognize that with the promotion of sustainability practices we
contribute to international resiliency and the Department’s goal of conflict prevention as
outlined in the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review. 13
Prepared by:
Myrna I. López / 305 437-3441
Environmental Security Specialist
US Southern Command, J45
Approved by:
Richard Dominguez / 305 437-2281
Deputy Command Engineer, J4
13
2011 Strategic sustainability Performance Plan
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