{"id":29758,"date":"2015-09-08T21:49:25","date_gmt":"2015-09-08T11:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nofibs.com.au\/?p=29758"},"modified":"2019-04-16T13:31:20","modified_gmt":"2019-04-16T03:31:20","slug":"australian-defence-forces-poorly-prepared-for-climate-change-reports-takvera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/australian-defence-forces-poorly-prepared-for-climate-change-reports-takvera\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Defence Forces poorly prepared for #Climate change reports @takvera"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"20150908-ADF-evacuation-Qld-floods-feature\"<\/a>
\nRob Sturrock and Dr Peter Ferguson give some hard truths about the security implications of climate change now and in the near future for Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. In their June 2015 report they claim that climate change is the threat equivalent to a hundred years war, which Australia and the Australian Defence Forces (ADF), are ill prepared for on a strategic level.<\/p>\n

“Without intending it, we are confronting a threat akin to a Hundred Year War.” say Sturrock and Ferguson. While the Government focusses on hardware upgrades such as new submarine contracts and traditional short term defence asset replacements, the essential strategic planning for operating in a climate changed world is being sorely neglected.<\/p>\n

Their report, The Longest Conflict: Australia’s Climate Security Challenge<\/em> (Download the PDF<\/a>) was released in June 2015 by the Center for Policy Development. <\/p>\n

According to the report authors, defence personnel indicate that climate change will not feature strongly in the upcoming Defence White Paper, due for realease in late 2015 or early 2016. The 2014 Defence Issues Paper, while identifying many security threats and opportunities, neglected to mention climate change was one of them.<\/p>\n

“This would mean a regression from, not advancement towards, a systematic approach to address Australia\u2019s climate security challenge.” say the report authors.<\/p>\n

At the launch of the report, Center for Policy Development CEO Travers McLeod said in a media release (PDF)<\/a> that whilst militaries like the US and the UK take climate security extremely seriously, Australia is woefully under prepared and falling further behind.<\/p>\n

\n“Australia is extremely vulnerable to climatic impacts such as prolonged incidents of extreme heat, changed rainfall composition, sea level rises and more frequent natural disasters.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"20150908-sturrock-the-longest-war-cover\"<\/a>“Australia is also in a region with the most vulnerability to climate change. Seven out of ten of the world\u2019s most vulnerable countries to climate change are in the Asia-Pacific. By 2030, approximately 879 million people will live in low elevation coastal zones vulnerable to storm surges and sea level rises, with 70% of these residing in Asia.<\/p>\n

“The Federal Government must urgently develop our military preparedness and readiness to respond to the climate security crises forecast by our closest allies.<\/p>\n

The study warns that Australia’s defence assessment and strategic preparedness for the security implications of climate change is woefully inadequate and unlikely to improve in the current political environment due to it’s strong politically partisan and divisive nature.<\/p>\n

Drawing upon the 2014 IPCC report Sturrock and Ferguson highlight the major aggregate impacts on human security in Australia and the Asian region including:<\/p>\n