Sec. 832. Coordination on climate change and national security
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The National Security Advisor and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, acting jointly, shall establish an interagency working group, to be known as the Climate and National Security Working Group, to coordinate the development of a strategic approach to identify, assess, and share information on current and projected climate-related impacts on national security interests and to inform the development of national security doctrine, policies, and plans. The Working Group, in close collaboration with the United States Global Change Research Program, shall— identify the U.S. national security priorities that are within the scope of the mission of the Working Group; develop recommendations for requirements for climate and social science data and intelligence analyses, as appropriate, that support national security interests; catalog climate science data, intelligence analyses, and other products and programs that support or should be considered in the development of national security doctrine, policy, and plans, including— climate and social science data repositories and analytical platforms; climate modeling, simulation, and projection capabilities; and information-sharing tools and resources supporting climate risk analyses and assessments, such as the Climate Data Initiative, the Climate Resilience Toolkit, the Global Change Information System, and the National Climate Assessment; identify information and program gaps that limit consideration of climate change-related impacts in developing national security doctrine, policies, and plans and provide descriptions of these gaps to Federal science agencies and the United States intelligence community to inform future research requirements and priorities, including collection priorities on climate data, models, simulations, and projections; facilitate the production and exchange of climate data and information with relevant stakeholders, including the United States intelligence community, and private sector partners, as appropriate; produce, as appropriate, and make available science-informed intelligence assessments to agencies having responsibilities in the development of national security doctrine, policies, and plans in order to identify climate change-related impacts and prioritize actions related thereto; establish, by consensus, guidance for Working Group members on coordinating, sharing, and exchanging climate science data among the members, and with the National Science and Technology Council; provide a venue for enhancing the understanding of the links between climate change-related impacts and national security interests and discussing the opportunities for climate mitigation and adaptation activities to address national security issues; work to improve the Federal Government's capability and capacity to characterize greenhouse gas sources and sinks accurately at subcontinental scales; recommend research guidelines, in coordination with the National Science and Technology Council, concerning the Federal Government's ability to detect climate intervention activities; develop, by consensus, guidance for Working Group members on building climate resilience in countries vulnerable to climate change-related impacts; take into account defined requirements and current capabilities described in paragraphs
(2)and
(3)of this subsection to facilitate the consideration of climate change-related impacts into national security doctrine, policies, and plans; have classified and unclassified capabilities, as required and appropriate, to consolidate and make available climate change-related impact information, intelligence analyses, and assessments for access and use by Working Group member agencies; identify the most current information on regional, country, and geographic areas most vulnerable to current and projected impacts of climate variability in the near term, midterm, and long term (as defined in section 834), in order to support assessments of national security implications of climate change, and identify areas most vulnerable to these impacts during these timeframes; develop recommendations for the Secretary of State to help ensure that the work of United States embassies, including their planning processes, is informed by relevant climate change-related analyses; and coordinate on the development of quantitative models, predictive mapping products, and forecasts to anticipate the various pathways through which climate change may affect public health as an issue of national security. The members of the Working Group shall include the following officials and representatives (or their designees): The National Security Advisor. The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. The representatives, appointed by the National Security Advisor and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (acting jointly), at the Assistant Secretary or equivalent level, of— the Department of State; the Department of the Treasury; the Department of Defense; the Department of Justice; the Department of the Interior; the Department of Agriculture; the Department of Commerce; the Department of Health and Human Services; the Department of Transportation; the Department of Energy; the Department of Homeland Security; the United States Agency for International Development; the Environmental Protection Agency; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; the U.S. Mission to the United Nations; the Office of Management and Budget; the Council on Environmental Quality; the Millennium Challenge Corporation; and any other agency or office as designated by the co-chairs. The National Security Advisor and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, or their designees, shall co-chair the Working Group. Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Working Group shall, by consensus, develop an action plan, that— identifies specific steps that are required to perform its functions; includes specific objectives, milestones, timelines, and identification of agencies responsible for completion of all actions described therein; includes recommendations to inform the development of agency implementation plans, as described in section 833; and shall be submitted to the co-chairs and the appropriate congressional committees, including— the House Committee on Oversight and Reform; the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; the Senate Committee on Armed Services; the House Committee on Armed Services; the House Committee on Natural Resources; the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works; and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.