US espionage services warn of the dangers of climate change

The Joe Biden government is having serious problems making progress in the fight against climate change. Despite having returned the United States to the Paris Agreement and setting ambitious goals for his country such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52% by 2030 (compared to 2005 emissions), the “Biden administration -Harris” (denomination used in the notes of the White House) constantly finds political and economic obstacles in actions such as the reduction of the use of fossil fuels or the development of renewable energies.

In the United States, moreover, a debate remains open that in countries like Spain many believe has been overcome since the time of the anecdote of Mariano Rajoy’s cousin: the existence of a significant part of the population that denies that humans are responsible for change or even deny that this phenomenon of global warming exists (despite what scientific studies say).

In this context of debate and opposition, it is understandable that the Biden-Harris administration uses all kinds of arguments to justify its action on climate matters.

declassified documents

And one of the most recent and daring actions has been the publication of data and assessments by intelligence agencies (secret information or espionage services, as they are known colloquially) on climate change and the risks that this environmental reality entails for the security of the United States, inside and outside its borders.

The White House has published (October 21) an extensive informative note accounting for the content of this information, together with a parallel document on the impact of climate change on the migration crisis, and has made available to the public a disqualified version, of 18 pages, of the Department of Defense report on climate risk analysis, based on the work of the intelligence services.

As an informative curiosity, whether or not it has real importance, even the English service of the Al Jazeera news agency has highlighted the documentation on climate change now published by the White House.

A far-reaching threat

The United States intelligence services highlight in their information for the Department of Defense that climate change poses wide-ranging threats to the national security and stability of the United States throughout the world.

More extreme weather “will increasingly exacerbate a range of risks to US national security interests, from physical shocks that could become security challenges, to how countries respond to the climate challenge,” the White House said in a statement. summary of intelligence reports.

The prediction was made in the first official assessment by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, ODNI, which oversees all US intelligence agencies.

The document “represents the consensus opinion of the 18” official elements or entities of the country’s intelligence services, emphasizes the White House.

Those responsible for these entities in charge of security and information indicate that climate change is driving “increased geopolitical tension as countries argue about who should do more”, cross-border “hotspots” as countries respond to the impact of climate change climate trying to ensure their own interests and the consequences of the climate on national stability in some countries.

On a practical level, US national security agencies will integrate the effects of climate change into their planning, the official White House note points out.

open information

The Pentagon, for example, will consider climate change “at all levels, which will be critical to training, fighting and winning in an increasingly complex environment.”

Migration, a politically sensitive issue on the southern border of the United States, will also be viewed in part through the lens of climate change, the White House said.

“This assessment marks the first time the US government has officially recognized and reported this link.”

“With more than 85 percent of global emissions coming from beyond the borders of the United States, we alone cannot solve this challenge. We need the rest of the world to accelerate its progress,” a senior US official told reporters, who asked not to be identified.

Also a risk for the economy

A separate government report issued on the same October 21 characterizes the climate-related risk as “an emerging threat to the financial stability of the United States,” according to the Financial Stability Oversight Board.

The recommendations included directives for regulators to require additional climate disclosures from companies and other regulated entities and consider mandates for them to carry out “scenario analysis” on climate outcomes.

“This report puts climate change squarely at the top of the agenda,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told a meeting of the FSOC, which was established after the 2008 financial crisis.

Yellen described the report as a “critical first step” and called for immediate action, saying “the longer we wait to address the underlying causes of climate change, the greater the risk”.

Source: The Vanguard