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Good afternoon and thank you all want a 

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monitor to represent President biden 

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and hosting today's conversation as we 

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celebrate Earth Day And the 5th 

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anniversary of the signing ceremony of 

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the Paris agreement . I am particularly 

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grateful to my international colleagues 

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for joining us today 

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Today . No nation can find lasting 

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security without addressing a climate 

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crisis . We face all kinds of threats 

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in our line of work , but few of them 

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truly deserve to be called existential . 

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A climate crisis does deserve to be 

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called existential . As NATO 

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secretary General Stoltenberg has said 

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our core task is to keep our people 

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safe and climate change is making the 

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world more unsafe and we need to act . 

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The climate crisis is a profoundly 

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destabilizing force for our world . As 

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the arctic melts , competition for 

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resources and influence in the region 

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increases closer to the equator , 

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rising temperatures and frequent and 

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intense extreme weather events in 

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Africa and central America threatened 

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millions withdraw hunger and 

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displacement as families 

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risked their lives in search of safety 

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and security . Mass migration leaves 

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them vulnerable . So exploitation and 

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radicalization , all of which 

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undermine stability and in the far 

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reaches of the pacific , rising sea 

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levels and more frequent intense storms 

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put individual families and whole 

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communities at risk . While pushing the 

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limits of our collective capacity to 

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respond . The U . S . Department of 

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Defense has been impacted directly and 

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just the past few years by extreme 

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weather caused by climate change . 

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Hurricane Michael inflicted billions of 

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billions of dollars of damage at 

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Tyndall Air Force Base in florida , 

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severe flooding of the Missouri River 

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in the American midwest , damaged off 

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an air force base costing hundreds of 

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millions of dollars . Wildfires in 

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California have threatened other 

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military installations , forcing 

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repeated evacuations . 

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Typhoons and Guam most most commonly 

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occurred from june The December , but 

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in February of 2019 , typhoon water 

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forced us to pause exercises with our 

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Australian and japanese allies . 

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Moreover , the department has been 

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called repeatedly to 

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support communities throughout the 

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United States and abroad as they 

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attempt to recover from severe weather 

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events and from coast to coast across 

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the world . The climate crisis has 

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caused substantial damage and put 

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people in danger , making it more 

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difficult for us to carry out our 

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mission of defending the United States 

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and our allies . And so that's why 

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President Biden has tasked The United 

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States 18 intelligence agencies with 

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producing a national intelligence 

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estimate on the security implications 

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of climate change . And we in the 

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Department of Defense are committed to 

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doing our part from increasing the 

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energy efficiency of our platforms and 

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installation to employing 

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clean distributed generation and energy 

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storage , two electrifying our own 

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vehicle fleets and we're not alone . 

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The climate change and stability 

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strategic approach recently issued by 

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our allies in the UK , raises the bar 

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on how militaries can adapt to an 

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operational environment that considers 

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the effects of climate change while 

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advancing military capabilities and 

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resilience the benefits of action 

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extend well beyond the climate and 

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include opportunities to improve our 

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own operations . For example , when we 

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operate more sustainably , we become 

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more logistically agile and ready to 

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respond to crisis . We also have 

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once in a generation opportunity to 

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build an entire economic sector and the 

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global infrastructure for clean energy . 

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The truth is that our shared commitment 

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will allow us to create a safer , more 

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resilient , secure and sustainable 

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future . Again , none of us can 

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tackle this problem alone . We share 

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this planet and shared threats demand 

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shared with solutions . And I look 

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forward to working with all of you on 

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this vital mission . So thank you 

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again for joining us . And so now I'd 

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like to take a minute to introduce my U . 

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S . Colleagues and our distinguished 

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panelists .