UNCLASSIFIED
Climate change poses an immediate and serious threat to U.S. national security and affects how and where the Army trains and operates. As the Secretary of the Army (SecArmy) stated in the United States Army Climate Strategy (ACS), "For today's Soldiers operating in extreme temperature environments, fighting wildfires, and supporting hurricane recovery, climate change isn't a distant future, it is a reality." The Total Army must train, modernize, and remain ready to deploy, fight, and win the nation's wars. Extreme weather events, soaring average temperatures, and other hazards caused by climate change are increasing the risk to military operations and forces at home and in many parts of the world. Adapting the Army to climate change will return significant, lasting advantages in training, readiness, and capabilities at strategic and operational levels.
But simply adapting to climate change does not go far enough. Dangerous levels of greenhouse gases (GHG) have already accumulated in the Earth's atmosphere. Slowing the pace of this build-up may help avoid the worst predictions of today's climate models. While the Army cannot address all or even most GHG emissions, the right initiatives, investments, and policies can significantly reduce Army GHG emissions while at the same time enhancing readiness. In climate change terms, this is known as "mitigation."
The ACS envisions the Total Army as "a resilient and sustainable land force able to operate in all domains with effective mitigation and adaption measures against the key effects of climate change, consistent with Army modernization efforts." The ACS, accompanied by this Army Climate Strategy Implementation Plan (ACS-IP), represents the Army's current approach to addressing climate change. Over 100 stakeholders helped to develop the ACS-IP and identify the many existing Army efforts and programs that are already contributing to the ACS's goals. The ACS-IP describes concrete tasks, metrics, and resources necessary over the next five fiscal years (FYs) to establish progress and lay the foundation for enduring change beyond 2027. The effects of climate change will be a feature of global conditions for the foreseeable future. As such, the Army must continually adjust the ACS-IP to reflect the best science and cutting-edge technologies. In FY25, the Army will assess progress, revisit assumptions, update and refresh the way ahead.
View the Full Army Climate Strategy Implementation Plan: https://www.army.mil/e2/downloads/rv7/about/2022_Army_Climate_Strategy_Implementation_Plan_FY23-FY27.pdf
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