The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Volume 12 | Issue 34 | Number 1 | Article ID 4168 | Aug 24, 2014

1

US Pacific Command, Climate Change and CollaborativeSociety アメリカ太平洋軍、気候変動、協調的安全保障

Andrew DeWit

While organizers mobilize across the globe forhistory’s biggest climate march in New York onSeptember 21,1 strikingly large numbers ofAmericans - and an even bigger share of theirpolitical representatives - remain quiet,doubtful or even in denial about climatechange.2 But the US military, especially in thePacific, is neither uncertain nor passive. TheAugust 10 Stars and Stripes tells us that USPacific Command (PACOM) is also “not waitingon politics” in responding to climate change.Brigadier General Mark McLeod, former headof PACOM’s Logistics, Engineering andSecurity Cooperation directorate describeswhy. He points out that 70 percent of globalstorms are in the Pacific and that climatechange’s impacts are already having militaryconsequences. He dismisses the denialismrampant in American politics and societywith:“Call it climate change, call it the big bluerabbit, I don’t give a hoot what you call it — themilitary has to respond to those kinds ofthings.”3

The US military is already a leader on climate-change mitigation through renewable energyand energy efficiency. The military’s adaptationefforts are also instructive for civil society andmay help curb climate-related geopoliticalinstability. In the Pacific, centring on the vastregion of Oceania, 12,000 kilometers east towest and 6000 kilometers north to south,PACOM is increasingly focused onbuildingresilience against climate change and creativenetworks of cooperation on humanitarianassistance and disaster response, or HADR. TheStars and Stripes article points out that –

Washington’s gridlock notwithstanding - thebest evidence indicates that climate change’sthreat to human security is already dire andrapidly worsening and thus “U.S. PacificCommand is forging strategies with partnernations in the region to mitigate the securityeffects of global warming.”

Loading US military disaster relief for Japan, March1 2 , 2 0 1 1(http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=117345)

PACOM’s partner countries include many ofOceania’s 22 island nations and territories inthe subregions of Melanesia, Micronesia andPolynesia. Their human populations total 9million over an area stretching far across theWestern Pacifi, and their biodiversity andspecies endemicity are unparalleled on theplanet.4 Among them is Kiribati, 4000kilometers southeast of Hawaii and with apopulation of 103,000. It may be the world’sfirst island nation to disappear beneath therising sea. The 33 islands that compose

APJ | JF 12 | 34 | 1

2

Kiribati’s total land area of 811 squarekilometers, spread out over 3.5 million squarekilometers, are for the most part only a meteror two above sea level. And many are hardlywider than a city block. The islands areincreasingly vulnerable to storm surges andtheir groundwater flows of fresh water areendangered by drought and the intrusion ofsalinity from the rising ocean. Kiribatipresident Anote Tong’s request to PACOM forengineering support earlier this year has metwith proposals that include an exchange ofenvironmental engineers whose work seemslikely to include desalinization, rainwatercollection systems, bolstering natural wavebarriers such as mangrove forests and coalreefs, and if necessary building seawalls.5

Map of Oceania and Oceanian Countr ies(http://www.ezilon.com/maps/oceania-physical-maps.html)K i r i b a t i : A N a t i o n G o i n g U n d e r(http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/kiribati-a-nation-going-under/590/)

PACOM is also partnered on climate-changeadaptation with larger regional players such asAustralia, including a 6-month rotationaldeployment of Marines to the northern area ofDarwin since April 2012.6 Daniel Russel, the USState Department’s senior official for the Asia-Pacific region, notes that “a significantcomponent of the rationale and the mission forthe rotational [US Marine] presence in Darwin... is to increase the region's ability to respondto natural disasters.''7

Marines loading into an Osprey at Darwin, September3 , 2 0 1 3(http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=120844)

This collaboration is a bit awkward of late, atthe political level, because climate denialism iseven more of a problem in Australian politicsthan in America. Though climate deniers can befound at all levels of American government, theObama White House itself is unequivocal on theclimate threat. Moreover, Secretary of StateJohn Kerry put climate change at the centre ofthe pivot to Asia in his August 13 speech, at theEast-West Center in Hawaii, on the “U.S. Visionfor Asia-Pacific Engagement.” Kerry describedclimate change as “the biggest challenge of allthat we face right now.” He did not stop there,and i n s t ead made a po in t o f c i t i ng“unprecedented storms, unprecedentedtyphoons, unprecedented hurricanes,unprecedented droughts, unprecedented fires,

APJ | JF 12 | 34 | 1

3

major damage, billions and billions of dollars ofdamage being done that we’re paying forinstead of investing those billions of dollars inavoiding this in the first place.”

Kerry speaks on the “U.S. Vision for Asia-PacificEngagement (http://www.state.gov/secretary/travel/)

By contrast, Australia’s current federalgovernment is led by Prime Minister TonyAbbott, a climate denialist who eliminated hiscountry’s carbon tax in mid-July. Through hisideologically-driven action, Abbott became thefirst national leader ever to abolish a carbonprice.8 Indeed, Tom Arup, the Environmenteditor of the Australian newspaper The Age,describes his country as being in a “climatecoma” because the Abbott government has notonly axed the carbon tax but is also attackingmechanisms to foster clean energy andefficiency.9 Reflecting this extremist antipathyto climate science and renewable energy,Abbott’s top business advisor, MauriceNewman, wrote a bizarre opinion piece in theAugust 14 The Australian warning that the realthreat was global cooling due to declining solaractivity.10 The Abbott government is alsoreluctant to put climate change on the veryimportant G20 leaders summit in Brisbane (inNovember), despite increasing US, Europeanand eminent Australians’ calls to for him torelent and be reasonable.11

Abbott advisor Maurice Newman warns of imminenti c e a g e(http://www.theage.com.au/comment/we-shouldnt-go-c o l d - o n - t h e - s c i e n c e - a r o u n d - g l o b a l -warming-20140814-1041a3.html)Tony Abbott and Environment Minister Greg Hunta f t e r a b o l i s h i n g t h e c a r b o n t a x(http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news /carbon- tax - i s -gone-repea l -b i l l s -pass - the -senate-20140717-3c2he.html)

Yet PACOM and Kerry have a staunch ally inthe Australian military. The Australian Chief ofArmy (the top post), Lieutenant General DavidMorrison, has made it clear that he seesclimate change as “the great challenge of ourtime.” Morrison points to the large number oflow-lying islands in the region, and concludesthe climate threat will entail “providingimmediate assistance for humanitarian anddisaster relief.”12 And Morrison is not a lonevoice. In January of 2013 (prior to Abbott’staking office), the Australian National SecurityStrategy incorporated climate change. Formany observers, this major development inAustralian security policy shows “that thecareer military and national securityestablishments in the country have been taking

APJ | JF 12 | 34 | 1

4

climate change risks very seriously.”13

This approach is rapidly becoming commonsense throughout the region’s militaries. OnJuly 18, the Philippines appointed LieutenantGeneral Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr., an officerexpert on climate change and HADR, to betheir new Chief of Staff Armed Forces of thePhilippines. Echoing the leadership ofAmerica’s Pacific Command, General Catapangargues that climate change – not armed conflict- is the greatest threat his country confronts.14

PACOM has many other allies on this issue,among militaries as well as in politics. Onehigh-level illustration of this fact was seen atthe Shangri-La Dialogue 2014,15 held over May30 to June 1 of this year. It hosted a specialsession on “Climate change, HADR, andSecurity in the Asia-Pacific.” The speakersincluded the Prime Minister and Minister forForeign Affairs and Defence of Tonga, NewZealand’s Minister of Defence, and theInternational Affairs Advisor to the PrimeMinister of Bangladesh.16 Tonga’s PrimeMinister, Lord Tuʻivakanō, delivered aneloquent description of how climate change isthe “number one threat to the security of ourregion, our survival, and our people” and “nownot just an environmental issue, or an economicissue.” The New Zealand Minister of Defence,Jonathan Coleman, reveled that a 2010 whitepaper determined that “30% of our resources inNew Zealand’s defence force are actuallycommitted to HADR work.” He also stressedthe opportunity for expanding collaboration onclimate-change related HADR training anddeployment to include China. He used aconcrete example: “last year for the first timeever we held a quadrilateral exercise in NewZealand involving China, New Zealand,Australia and the US – the first time PLA troopsparticipated in an exercise in New Zealand, andthat was a scenario that took lessons from theChristchurch earthquakes and sought to applythem in possible scenarios across theAsia–Pacific region.”

For his part, Gowher Rizvi, International AffairsAdvisor to Bangladesh’s Prime Minister,pointed out that 70% of the world’s low-lyingcoastlines are in the Asia-Pacific, with oneestimate of USD 85 billion annual damagerising to USD 500 billion by 2030. He addedthat the multiplicity of effects from climatechange makes it “the largest and the mostsignificant global threat to peace and security,”with a particular intensity in the Asia-Pacific.He also lamented that climate change andsecurity “remains peripheral to national,regional and international peace and securityarchitecture and strategies.”

Climate change, HADR, and Security in the Asia-P a c i f i c(https://www.iiss.org/en/events/shangri%20la%20dialo g u e / a r c h i v e / 2 0 1 4 - c 2 0 c / s p e c i a l - s e s s i o n s -b0a1/session-3-18b0)

Just Politics?

There is a certain amount of cynicism thatpolitical actors are using HADR as a wedge “topursue military engagement or soften militaryconnections.”17 Yet given the growing threat ofclimate change, the military role in HADRsurely needs to be expanded and more deeplyand del iberately institutional ized inco l laborat ion wi th NGOs and o therorganizations. This argument is receivingincreased academic attention18 and is the focusof critical thinking and institutional initiativeswithin the military itself.19 Experts within theUS military have begun to highlight meansthrough which PACOM could facilitate a“community-centric approach” that goesbeyond short-term HADR to build multifaceted

APJ | JF 12 | 34 | 1

5

resilience and thus reduce disaster risk.20

Yet th is argument for an expanded,collaborative military role is in contrast toHADR’s reigning normative framework, the so-called Oslo guidelines of 1994 (updated in2007). These guidelines relegate the militaryrole in foreign-country HADR to a "lastresort."21 And many of the multitudinous NGOsin the HADR field are in fact vociferouslyopposed to military involvement in reliefoperations.

It would of course be ideal to keep foreignmilitary forces out of HADR. But non-militaryactors lack adequate means, especially to dolarge-scale HADR. There is at present noindication of willingness to substantiallyincrease HADR funding for non-military civilianagencies or NGOs. One precondition forkeeping the military out of HADR would be toslash 2012’s global military spend of over USD1.5 trillion and devote much of it to the presentless than USD 20 bi l l ion funding forhumanitarian assistance. That seems unlikelyto happen, especially as nations throughoutEast Asia, the Middle East and other regionsramp up military spending.22 Moreover, ourincreasingly unstable geopolitics presentsopportunities. As New Zealand’s DefenceMinister implied in his talk, the more ourmilitaries collaborate on HADR, buildingbridges and bolstering human security, the lessrisk of yet more wars driven by climate,resource and other inter-related and escalatingcrises. This perspective has now begun toemerge publicly from within PACOM itself, in arecent analysis by PACOM regional analyst JenPearce. Pearce systematically outlines thebenefits for both China and the US, as well asthe larger region, from collaborating onHADR.23 One of those benefits could be buildinga bridge between the Japanese and Chinese,through HADR, as some Japanese expertssuggest.24 One might add that the more ourmilitaries devote resources to HADR andrelated activities, in collaboration with NGOs,

the greater the prospect of civilizing themilitary rather than further militarizing society.

US-China HADR training, Hawaii, November 12-14,2 0 1 3(http://www.gxonline.com/intel/guard-us-china-disaster-exercise)

Recal l the remarks of Gowher Rizvi ,International Affairs Advisor to Bangladesh’sPrime Minister. He expressed dismay that thelink between climate change and security ismarginal in most of the institutions that shapeinternational relations. The inattention of everymajor country’s public debate concerning whatthe militaries are doing on HADR, and why, isjust as lamentable. Among other things, itleaves room for unscrupulous politicians likeTony Abbott to play games that will exacerbatethe already costly consequences of climatechange.

The highly regarded environmentalist GeorgeMarshall, formerly senior campaigner forGreenpeace US and the Rainforest Foundation,writes about this inattention in his new bookDon't Even Think About It: Why Our Brains AreWired to Ignore C l imate Change . 2 5

Neuroscience and sociology reveal much aboutwhy even academe has yet to come to gripswith the enormity of climate change. Marshallalso tells us that climate change activism cancome in a variety of forms that we might notrecognize or feel comfortable about. One

APJ | JF 12 | 34 | 1

6

example he uses is emerging climate changeactivism among pro-life evangelicals on thebasis of the rights of the unborn. In interviews,Marshall makes a convincing case that:

1) climate change is already too vast and fast tobe compartmentalized as an environmentalissue, and

2) that climate change activism is emergingamong groups very different from progressiveenvironmentalists and in discourses that thelatter would never dream of.

Though Marshall himself does not, apparently,explore what the PACOM and partner militariesare doing, their mobilization on climate changeas a national security threat is surely aprofound example of precisely what he means.Perhaps the organizers of the September 21People’s Climate March in New York canharness the example and help broaden the linkbetween climate change and national securityinto a more-encompassing paradigm of humansecurity. As we saw in the above, manyelements of the militaries and associated thinktanks are clearly moving in that directionalready.

Andrew DeWit is Professor in RikkyoUniversity’s School of Policy Studies and acoordinator of The Asia-Pacific Journal. Hisrecent publications include “Climate Changeand the Military Role in HumanitarianAssistance and Disaster Response,” in PaulBacon and Christopher Hobson (eds) HumanSecurity and Japan’s Triple Disaster(http://www.amazon.com/dp/1138013137?tag=theasipacjo0b-20) (Routledge, 2014), "Japan’srenewable power prospects," in Jeff Kingston(ed) Critical Issues in Contemporary Japan(http://www.amazon.com/dp/0415857457/?tag=theasipacjo0b-20) (Routledge 2013), and (withKaneko Masaru and Iida Tetsunari) “Fukushimaand the Political Economy of Power Policy inJapan” in Jeff Kingston (ed) Natural Disasterand Nuclear Crisis in Japan: Response andR e c o v e r y a f t e r J a p a n ' s 3 / 1 1

(http://www.amazon.com/dp/0415698561/?tag=theasipacjo0b-20) (Routledge, 2012). He is leadresearcher for a five-year (2010-2015)Japanese-Government funded project on thepolitical economy of the Feed-in Tariff.

Recommended Citation: Andrew DeWit, "USPacific Climate Change and CollaborativeSecurity", The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 12,Issue 34, No. 1, August 25, 2014.

Related articles

• Japan’s Rollout of Smart Cities: What Role fort h e C i t i z e n s ?http://japanfocus.org/-Andrew-DeWit/4131

• •Andrew DeWit, Could a US-Japan “GreenAlliance” Transform the Climate-EnergyE q u a t i o n ?(https://apjjf .org/-Andrew-DeWit/4111)

• Andrew DeWit, Distributed Power andIncent ives in Post -Fukushima Japan(https://apjjf .org/-Andrew-DeWit/3861)

• John A. Mathews, The Asian Super Grid(https://apjjf.org/-John_A_-Mathews/3858)

• Andrew DeWit, Japan’s Energy Policy at aCrossroads: A Renewable Energy Future?(https://apjjf.org/-Andrew-DeWit/3831)

• Sun-Jin YUN, Myung-Rae Cho and David vonHippel, The Current Status of Green Growth inKorea : Energy and Urban Secur i t y(https://apjjf .org/-Sun_Jin-YUN/3628)

Notes

1 The People’s Climate March site is here(http://peoplesclimate.org/march/).

2 For example, Ipsos MORI’s first-ever GlobalTrends poll (2014) includes a section on theenvironment. In answer to the question “Towhat extent do you agree or disagree? Theclimate change we are currently seeing islargely the result of human activity,” America

APJ | JF 12 | 34 | 1

7

was last among 20 major nations with only 54%in agreement. Fully 32% of Americansdisagreed, the largest level of disagreement inthe sample. The 14% share who opted for“Don’t know” was also the largest in thes a m p l e . S e e h e r e(http://www.ipsosglobaltrends.com/environment.html).

3 See Wyatt Olson, “PACOM not waiting onpolitics to plan for climate change challenges,”(http://www.stripes.com/news/pacom-not-waiting-on-politics-to-plan-for-climate-change-challenges-1.297433) Stars and Stripes, August10, 2014.

4 S e e “ A b o u t O c e a n i a , ”(http://www.iucn.org/about/union/secretariat/offices/oceania/oro_aboutoceania/) InternationalUnion for Conservation of Nature,” nd.

5 See Wyatt Olson, “PACOM not waiting onpolitics to plan for climate change challenges,”(http://www.stripes.com/news/pacom-not-waiting-on-politics-to-plan-for-climate-change-challenges-1.297433) Stars and Stripes, August10, 2014.

6 The initial deployment of 200 Marines isslated to be expanded to a 2500 memberMarine Air-Ground Task Force during 2016-17.See Donna Miles, “Rotational Force in AustraliaPaves Way for B ig Growth in 2014,”(http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=120844) DoD News, September 4, 2013.

7 See the quote in Peter Hartcher and JohnGarnaut, “US administration and Tony Abbotthave 'meeting of minds' on climate change,”(http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/us-administration-and-tony-abbott-h a v e - m e e t i n g - o f - m i n d s - o n - c l i m a t e -change-20140813-103pq8.html) SydneyMorning Herald, August 14, 2014.

8 Lisa Cox, “Carbon tax is gone: Repeal billsp a s s t h e S e n a t e , ”(http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/politic

al-news/carbon-tax-is-gone-repeal-bills-pass-the-senate-20140717-3c2he.html) SydneyMorning Herald, July 17, 2014.

9 Tom Arup, “Tony Abbott battles the future bya x i n g c a r b o n t a x , ”(http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/tony-abbott-battles-the-future-by-axing-carbon-tax-20140710-zt2d2.html) SydneyMorning Herald, July 17, 2014.

10 Maurice Newman, “We’re ill-prepared if thei c e m a n c o m e t h , ”(http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/were-i l lprepared- i f - the- iceman-cometh/story-e6frg6zo-1227023489894#mm-premium) TheAustralian, August 14, 2014.

11 See John Conroy, “Bishop-Kerry talks coveredc l i m a t e c h a n g e : U S o f f i c i a l , ”(http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/business/breaking-news/bishop-kerry-talks-covered-c l i m a t e - u s - o f f i c i a l / s t o r y -fnn9c0gv-1227023880573?nk=6c794d25e14d378b62b073eb58c72fa3) Daily Telegraph,August 14, 2014. Among the prominentAustralians calling for the inclusion of climatechange on the G20 agenda are twelve leadingmedical scientists who wrote an open letter toAbbott. See “Put climate change on G20agenda , med ic s t e l l Tony Abbo t t , ”(http://www.rtcc.org/2014/08/12/put-climate-change -on -g20 -agenda -med ics - t e l l - t ony -abbott/#sthash.h7EEl2Wj.dpuf) Responding toClimate Change, August 12, 2014.

12 See the transcript of General Morrison’sinterview with Karon Snowdon, “Australianarmy chief says climate change will impactm i l t a r y r o l e , ”(http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/asia-pacific/australian-army-chief-says-climate-change-will-impact-miltary-role/1268044) ABC Radio Australia, February20, 2014.

13 See “Climate Security on the Australia-UnitedStates Ministerial Consultation Table,”

APJ | JF 12 | 34 | 1

8

(http://climateandsecurity.org/2014/08/14/climate-security-on-the-australia-united-states-ministerial-consultation-table/) The Center forClimate and Security, August 14, 2014.

14 See Niko Dizon, “Climate change buff is newA F P c h i e f o f s t a f f , ”(http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/620650/climate-change-buff-is-new-afp-chief-of-staff) PhilippineDaily Inquirer, July 17, 2014.

15 The Shangri-La Dialogue was initiated in2002 as “a forum where the Asia-Pacific’sdefence ministers could engage in dialogueaimed at building confidence and fosteringpractical security cooperation.” The Dialoguehas since become “the most important regulargathering of defence professionals in theregion,” and “a vital annual fixture in thediaries of Asia-Pacific defence ministers andtheir civilian and military chiefs of staff.” Seeh e r e(https://www.iiss.org/en/events/shangri-s-la-s-dialogue/about-shangri-la).

16 A transcript of the session is available here(http://www.iiss.org/en/events/shangri%20la%20dialogue/archive/2014-c20c/special-sessions-b0a1/session-3-18b0).

17 On this point, see the remarks of AnthonyBergin, Deputy Director of The AustralianStrategic Policy Institute, in “Multilateraldisaster relief efforts – not as easy as you mightt h i n k , ”(http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/multilateral-disaster-relief-efforts-not-as-easy-as-you-might-think/) The Strategist, March 11, 2014.

18 One example is Glen Penner “A Frameworkf o r N G O - M i l i t a r y C o l l a b o r a t i o n(http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/a-framework-for-ngo-military-collaboration), Small WarsJournal, July 9, 2014.

19 The US military itself has recognized thatHADR expertise is repeatedly lost throughpersonnel turnover and thus “efforts to

institutionalize effective policies, tactics,techniques, and procedures (TTPs) that drawon lessons observed from recent responses andprovide increased education and trainingopportunities related to disaster relief forindividuals and units.” See Center forExcellence in Disaster Management andHumanitarian Assistance Director Pamela K.Milligan, “PACOM Disaster Response LessonsT r e n d s 1 9 9 1 - 2 0 1 3 , ”(http://www.coe-dmha.org/shared/ppt/PLN_20140314_Disaster_Management_LL_Trends_PRS_Hallett.pptx) Center for Excellence in DisasterManagement and Humanitarian Assistance,March 12, 2014.

20 See the highly informative article by Erik JReaves, Michael Termini, and Frederick MBurkle, “Reshaping US Navy Pacific Responsein Mitigating Disaster Risk in South PacificIsland Nations: Adopting Community-BasedD i s a s t e r C y c l e M a n a g e m e n t , ”(http://pksoi.army.mil/conferences/psotew/documents/PACOM_Disaster_Risk_Management_in_Pacific_Islands.pdf) Prehospital and DisasterMedicine Special Report, Vol 29, No 1,February 2014.

2 1 See “Humanitar ian Civ i l -Mi l i taryCoordination and the Oslo Guidelines,”(http://greenhumanitarians.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/the-oslo-guidelines-for-humanitarian-civil-military-coordination.pdf) UNOCHA.

22 For the numbers, see Yantoultra Ngui, “AsChina flexes maritime muscle, SE Asia buildsh o m e - g r o w n d e f e n c e i n d u s t r y , ”(http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/08/11/southeast-asia-defence-idINKBN0GB23920140811)Reuters, August 12, 2014.

23 See the excellent analysis from PACOMregional analyst Jen Pearce, “HADR and US-C h i n a M i l i t a r y C o o p e r a t i o n , ”(http://thediplomat.com/2014/07/hadr-and-us-china-military-cooperation/) The Diplomat, July28, 2014.

APJ | JF 12 | 34 | 1

9

24 On this, see Hideshi Futari, “Japan’s DisasterRelief Diplomacy: Fostering MilitaryC o o p e r a t i o n i n A s i a , ”(http://www.asiamattersforamerica.org/japan/japans-disaster-relief-diplomacy) Asia Matter forAmerica (East-West Center), May 21, 2013.

25 A July 23 interview with George Marshall canbe read and listened to at “A World Burns inSilence,” Radio Ecoshock, July 23: See here(http://www.ecoshock.info/2014/07/a-world-burns-in-silence.html).